Five Words
by BrokenFacades
Summary: "I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away...
1. Everything Changes

**A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading the first chapter of my new story: **_**Five words**_**. This follows canon somewhat in the sense that Mikan **_**did**_** get the Alice stone from Natsume on her 11th birthday. Comments and suggestions are welcome! This is ****not**** Beta'd so it's probably got some mistakes in it. Feel free to tell me what they are! Also please go and check out my profile: my update i****nformation will be posted there along with a few other things.**

**Disclaimer: This will be the only chapter with a disclaimer so this will hold true for the entire story: I don't own Gakuen Alice – never have never will.**

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 1: Everything Changes**

It was before school on a clear spring morning, Tuesday to be exact, which found a certain teenager sitting beneath her sakura tree. Just another normal day…

Mikan Sakura fingered the crimson Alice stone in her hand, enjoying to cool feeling of the chain it was attached to across her skin. She had gotten it three years ago from a not-so-mysterious-someone and always had it with her. She was the picture of beauty, sakura petals floating down occasionally with a gust of wind, sitting there all alone with her long, chocolate brown waves falling across her shoulders, creamy skin, rosy cheeks and large warm eyes. To top it all of she was in her middle school uniform, skirt and all. How Mikan missed all of the blushes and stares in her direction from boys and girl alike only Kami would know.

Hazel eyes sparkle happily and the fourteen-year-old nullifier giggled to herself-

-causing one boy to trip and fall flat on his face, books flying everywhere while another walked straight into a near by tree. Mikan didn't see this either.

"What are you laughing about, baka?" a deep voice drawled from above her.

Mikan jerked in surprise, hitting her head against the tree trunk and causing a flurry of pink petals to rain down from the impact. Hands immediately flew to her head where she hit it, wincing and the Alice stone necklace fell into the grass silently.

"Ouch!" Mikan hissed sharply, eyes tearing ever so slightly. "Natsume-!" she shouted angrily glaring up at the fire Alice. He stood but three feet away from her, hands in the front pockets of his pants and his uniform worn sloppy as always; tie loose, dress shirt not completely buttoned up and jacket open, looking perfect as always with smoldering crimson eyes and silky raven hair that reached slightly past his pierced ears in messy perfection. A lazy smirk was on his face.

"Smooth, no-star," he drawled.

Mikan snatched the necklace out of the grass and jerked it back around her neck.

"Three-star!" she snapped, pointing to the golden badges pinned to her uniform.

"Hn."

"Shut up! That was all your fault anyways," Mikan huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and puffing her cheeks. She refused to make eye contact with Natsume. It was childish, but _so_ adorable.

Unseen to the pouting brunet Natsume felt his lips twitching upward into the most minuscule of smiles before he wiped his face clean of emotion and slipped back into his "tease-Mikan-mode".

"Whatever. It's your fault for being so oblivious." Natsume stated dryly, turning to look at the students passing by with bored eyes before glancing at the other teen from the corner of his eye: she was clenching and unclenching her fists repeatedly in an attempt to calm herself- a good attempt, but Natsume knew all the right buttons to push in order to make her angry.

Meanwhile Mikan was encouraging herself mentally.

'_C'mon, Mikan! You are a fourteen-year-old and you are completely above him and his antics. Don't give in! Self-control.'_

"Well, it's 10 minutes until class starts," Natsume continued in the same bland tone, "let's go – I promise not to tell the rest of the class about how stupid you were this morning…"

'_Self-control, self-control, self-control…!'_

Natsume smirked then, "… _Pink and White Stripes_."

Screw self-control.

Her responding shriek of rage could be heard all across the academy.

"_Na-tsu-me!_ You perverted peeping tom! You're a _dead man_!"

Yup. Just another normal day at Gakuen Alice…

OoOoO

"…_The Emperor penguin feeds its young by first ingesting the fish to break it down before vomiting it into the hatchlings mouth. As they grow older…_"

Only ten minutes into class and light snores could be heard all around the darkened room as yet another boring animal documentary played on the TV at the front of the room the male voice droning on and on. Hotaru was busy messing with some new invention while her boyfriend Ruka tried his best to keep awake beside her. Countless others followed Ruka's example or just gave in to sleep.

"…_Emperors live in a harsh environment and during the winter huddle together to keep warm. They each take turns in the outer part of the circle before slowly moving to the inner most part and…_"

Koko fell out of his chair, landing on the carpeted floor with a muted thud, sleeping all the while.

Ah, the joys of Science…

"You suck." Mikan whispered, shooting daggers at her seatmate. Natsume gave her a half-lidded look.

"I know," Natsume replied in a low voice, "You tell me every morning, Polka."

"That's because you make it one of your priorities to find out what kind of underwear I'm wearing _everyday!_"

"Hn."

"You little-!"

"Polka, just shut up for now, okay? Watch the video. Don't you like animals?"

Mikan tore her hazel eyes away from Natsume's crimson to watch said video. On the screen was a sea leopard with a penguin clenched between its jaws as the narrator talked about the circle of life.

"Yes," Mikan said sarcastically, "I just _love_ watching furry little animals get violently torn apart by larger, carnivorous predators!"

She cocked her head to the side as she spoke, looking at Natsume with disdain.

"Hn."

It had been twenty minutes now since Mikan had declared that she would skin him alive. In about five more minutes – ten tops – she would get tired of fighting with him and make up with him. It always happened that way. She was too nice, Natsume thought, not for the first time, as he propped his feet up on his shared desk.

Mikan growled at his feet, but didn't bother to push them down or snap at him for it, fuming silently about it, instead.

The fire-caster decided to just keep quiet until then and sure enough, five minutes later…

Mikan sighed softly. "Look, Natsume, I know that I'm going to regret this later – I always do –" Natsume snorted and Mikan flicked him absentmindedly on the arm as she continued in a low whisper, "bit let's stop fighting. I don't like being angry at you and-"

She never got to finish because the door to class B suddenly slid open, reveling the dark silhouette of a teacher in the doorway. Those sleeping snapped to attention at the sound and Jinno-sensei stood up from his desk and, much to the happiness of the entire class, paused the documentary while the class president Yuu Tobita aka Inchou flipped the lights on.

Natsume stiffened and a scowl carved itself into his face as his eyes narrowed and turned into steel.

"Persona," he hissed.

Mikan blinked in surprise, looking from Natsume to Persona and back, the latter dressed in his usual all-black attire: what Mikan swore were black skinny jeans with boots that went mid-calf and a formfitting, long sleeved t-shirt. He wore all of his Alice limiters on his fingers, neck and ears, a cruel smile on his lips and a white half-mask that hidden what Mikan knew were cold black eyes. His hair was still the same, inky black with sharp spikes everywhere.

"Natsume Hyuuga," he said softly, his voice like dead leaves. Everyone in class B suppressed the urge to shiver, but could do nothing to stop the goose bumps that rose on their skin.

"What?" Natsume asked snappily.

"I need you to come with me," he informed before turning to Jinno. "That will be alright with you I presume? I hope I'm not taking him away from anything… important." He said.

Mikan didn't think that he was worried at all.

"Of course not, Serio." The spectacle wearing science teacher said tightly.

"Come along then, Natsume-kun," Persona said icily with his trademark creepy grin.

The teen stood up obediently.

"Natsume," Mikan whispered worriedly, grabbing a hold of his hand before he could get too far. She was no longer seated, standing just like her partner, a concerned look on her sweet face. They were now the center of attention in the room, but neither seemed to care as the stared at one another in tense silence.

Finally, "See you later." He said gruffly pulling his hand away from hers.

He didn't look at her the entire time. He didn't want to see the hurt expression he knew was on her face. Natsume didn't need to add guilt to the ever-growing list of emotions coursing through him.

"I'll be fine."

Why did he feel like he was lying?

OoOoO

The next day, when Mikan sat underneath the Sakura tree waiting for Natsume, he never came. She was late and got a scolding from the teacher about tardiness. He didn't show up to class either and Mikan was left to stare at the empty seat beside her with a sense of foreboding.

The final bell rang, the long trill signaling the end of the school day.

Mikan sat at her desk, staring at the wood surface silently, with conflicted hazel eyes.

"Sakura-san," a kind voice said beside her. Mikan looked up to see shining blond hair and clear blue eyes smiling down at her.

"Ah, Ruka-pyon!" Mikan exclaimed with a smile. "Do you need something?"

"The class is empty now, baka," a monotonous voice said from in front of her. Flat amethyst eyes stared Mikan down as she looked around the room to see it vacant. Not including them.

"Oh! Haha sorry Hotaru-chan!" She exclaimed, sheepishly. "I'm just worried about stupid Natsume. He's one of my best friends and Persona isn't the nicest guy in the world, so…"

"You were worried." Ruka finished for her.

Mikan nodded.

Then they sat in silence.

Not one for awkward quietness like what was going on right then, Ruka spoke up, "Hotaru and I were going to go to Central Town today and you look like you need a picker-upper. Want to come with us?" he asked.

The glare Hotaru shot him promised him a fate worse then death. The animal lover blanched.

Oblivious to it all, Mikan sat, contemplating.

'_Ruka-pyon is right. I need to perk up and not worry so much! Natsume is… well, Natsume and he'll be fine!'_ she thought to herself.

"I'd love to!" the brunet answered aloud.

"Great!" Ruka exclaimed, somewhat nervous.

"Yes," hissed Hotaru. "Just great."

Ruka was sooo dead.

OoOoO

Mikan sat on one of the many benches around the large fountain in the middle of Central Town eating an extra large box of Fluff Puffs. The nullifier was most defiantly in a better mood now as she smiled happily, popping another one of the fluffy candies into her mouth.

"Mmm!" she hummed happily.

She was so happy that Ruka-pyon invited her along with him and Hotaru!

She paused for a moment, Fluff Puff halfway to her mouth when a thought occurred to her. Hotaru wasn't mad and Ruka-pyon was she? They may have been planning a date or something and Mikan might be interrupting them… And wasn't it their two year anniversary today?

" . . ."

Mikan looked around.

And come to thing of it, where was the couple? After Mikan had gotten her treat the Ice Queen her dragged her boyfriend away and she hadn't seen them since.

Hotaru couldn't be…?

Nah!

OoOoO

"What were you thinking?" Hotaru asked coldly, baka gun version 4.0 aimed at his head. "The idiot was fine – you didn't need to invite her. In fact you didn't even ask _me_ for approval…"

Ruka looked at her with wide eyes. He loved Hotaru and all, but by Kami she was the scariest woman that he had ever met. He had to question himself once again why he was dating her in the first place.

'_Because you fell head over heals in love with her when you were eleven and have been smitten with her since,'_ a reasonable voice said in the back of his head.

Right.

"W-well, "he stuttered nervously, "I know that it's our anniversary today but she looked sad and she _is_ your best friend and a really good one of mine so-"

_click!_

"Wrong answer Nogi."

_BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!_

OoOoO

It was nearing the end of the day when the trio was on their way back from Central Town. Hotaru was fuming, baka gun 4.0 clenched in her hand and Ruka with a few bumps on his head looking slightly miserable. Mikan though, was smiling and humming as the three walked from the bus stop to their dorms.

Right outside the girls' dorms, Mikan turned to her to friends with a large, blinding smile.

"Thanks for inviting me, you two! I… I really needed it. I feel super happy now, and I also feel bad for interrupting you two's date, so I got you both something," Mikan admitted sheepishly, a slight blush on her face. From her uniforms pockets she pulled out two small boxes, both white with neatly tied red ribbons on them. She gave one to Ruka and the other to Hotaru, glowing with happiness.

"Open them when you get home." she instructed before running forward and giving them both hugs.

Mikan gave them one last smile before running into the building, pushing the wooden doors open quickly and disappearing through them.

Hotaru looked down at the box with a contemplative look on her face before looking back at her boyfriend now for two years.

"You are forgiven," she said decidedly with a small smile.

Ruka smiled happily and leaned in to give his girlfriend a chaste kiss before pocketing his own gift.

"But never again!" she added sharply.

Ruka winced.

"Yes, M'am."

OoOoO

Mikan was running to her dorm room - up two flights of stairs and down the hallway of the third floor - happy with the end of the day. Even though she was still worried about Natsume, she felt better and smiled her whole way to her room, shoes making small tapping sounds with each step.

She stopped when she reached the door with the golden numbers 307 nailed too it with three golden stars below. Mikan brought her hand to her neck to find the chain that had her room key on it, the only other necklace she wore than the one with the red Alice stone on it, before unclasping it and sticking the key into the lock, turning it. She paused with her hand on the handle, a small smile on her face as she reminisced on the time before she became a three-star.

As a no-star her room was a dusty mess of spiders and unknown creatures on the floor. She had nothing but a small bed and a dresser with a single dusty light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Mikan worked really hard to rank up.

When she became a one-star, Mikan was ecstatic. The room wasn't exactly like it, but it was about as nice and as furnished as her room back home in Kyoto with a small bathroom that connected to the side.

When she ranked two-star she didn't think it could get much better: a large, fluffy bed, a dresser, desk and chair and a medium sized TV. A medium sized bathroom with both a shower and a tub greeted her eyes when she first came in and there was a little microwave tucked away in the shelves blow the TV stand.

Mikan was completely proved wrong when she ranked up once more.

The brunet turned that handle and walked in.

_Snap snap!_

The lights clicked on and Mikan took off her shoes and placed them on the shoe rack before walking into her dorm. Her feet made no sound as she walked though her carpeted house, snapping her fingers at all the rooms she passed and lighting them up. Mikan walked into the small kitchen she now had, carpet changing to hardwood, picking up a package of macaroni she planned on making for dinner since she had missed it at the cafeteria. Taking one of the pots from a cabinet she filled it with water at the sink before putting it on the stove, cranking the flame up to its maximum and setting the macaroni box on the counter beside it. Mikan smiled and went to her mini fridge to grab an ice-cold bottle of water and begin drinking it as she walked to her laundry room and put in a load.

Humming happily and water bottle in hand, Mikan continued walking down the hall, passing her large bathroom and going straight to her room.

The sun was long since set and upon opening the door, she snapped her fingers once again.

She noticed two things at once: one, the balcony door was wide open and two, there was a man sitting on her bed.

"Mikan," a cold voice greeted.

Said girl gasped in surprise, dropping her, thankfully closed, water bottle on the floor before reaching down to pick it up again and exclaiming, "Natsume! W-what are you doing here, you big dummy? You scared me! And, and… where _were_ you this morning? I was so worried, I-"

"You sure don't look it." His voice cut in like razors and Mikan looked at him, about to shout. But then she saw his eyes.

So cold…

His crimson eyes were like ice: cold flat, unforgiving and completely void of any and all emotion except one: hate. Completely uncovered and unadulterated loathing, and it was aimed at her.

This time when her bottle of waterslipped through her fingers she didn't bother to pick it up.

"N-natsume?" Mikan squeaked. "What's wrong with you?"

"Hn." He grunted, looking away.

Anger welled up inside of her.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" she asked angrily. "You just go and _break into my room_ and then you act like a jerk? Well, _thanks _a lot Natsume," she spat angrily.

"…"

Angry tears began collecting in Mikan's eyes as she stared at her partner and the person she considered one of her best friends. Natsume stood up and began walking onto the balcony he had come in from.

"Why are you being so mean?" Mikan asked in a whisper. She was used to him being cold sometimes, but this? He had never been like this to her before.

Unseen to her, Natsume clenched his fists until his knuckles were white, nails digging into his skin and creating thin half-moons across his flesh. Crimson eyes flashed with pain.

"….everything… you." Mikan heard him say, so quietly she only heard the snippets of it.

"W-what?" she asked in confusion.

"I hate everything about you," he said coldly, placing both hands on the edge of the balcony, one foot up as well as he prepared to jump.

Five words.

Mikan felt like she had been slapped in the face.

Angry and hurt she replied in a broken whisper, "I... I hate you too, Natsume."

And so the first domino in a long line fell... The world would never be the same again.

"Good."

For better or for worse, only time would tell…

Natsume jumped down, absorbing the impact of the fall in the balls of his feet and leaving the light of the balcony behind as he left.

He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

Up in her room, Mikan broke down in tears. He hated her? Natsume hated her? The brunet wondered what she did to cause such an emotion to be directed at her and she could find no answer for it.

Something was wrong with this. Mikan knew it. _Her_ Natsume would never act like that without a reason…

But whatever the reason was Mikan didn't know. Shakily she walked back to her kitchen and shut the fire off. The water was just barley boiling, and Mikan poured it all down the drain and placed it back on the stove. She wasn't hungry anymore…

She sat down on the kitchen floor and cried.

**Okay! That was the end of chapter 1! Well this was the very first story that I have ever written: I hope you liked it!**

**Please review! Reviews are what an author lives for. :D**


	2. To Protect Her

**A/N: Thank You to all who reviewed! I never expected to get as many as I did, this being a new story and me a new writer and all. This has not been beta'd, so their are probably mistakes in it - feel free to correct!**

**Rated T:** for slight language

******Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 2: To Protect Her**

Natsume didn't bother to look around the room he was now in, having already been in there countless times. Instead he just stared straight ahead through the eyes holes in his mask to the front of the room where the Elementary school principal sat behind his large wooden desk, fingers laced together as he rested his chin on them with a small smile on his childish face. Persona and Luna flanked either side of him.

"Mission complete," he stated simply, hating the way his stomach turned as he thought back to what he had done.

Suddenly he was glad for his signature black cat mask, because he was sure that he probably had the most guilty look on his face, despite his efforts to keep in blank.

The child principals smile widened. "Good, good..." he purred. "And how did she take it? I, ah, hope that she wasn't too crushed."

_'Sadistic Bastard!'_ he hissed internally, unseen crimson eyes flashing with anger. "She will not continue being a nuisance any longer," came his stoic reply.

Luna snickered in the background.

"Well done," the ESP said with a grin. "But do remember: if she _does_ indeed continue to cause problems, well... we will have to remove her. But you already know that, don't you?"

"Of course." Natsume replied tightly.

OoOoO

The next day, when a low-energy Mikan came to class with red tinged eyes and without her seat mate like she would always normally do, not even acknowledging him when Natsume finally did arrive, the whole class was in an uproar. They sat in silence until the beginning of class. No one dared approach Natsume and the downcast brunet. The tension the two created was so thick, that it drew nearly everyone else in class B into silence, save for the occasional conspiratorial whisper about them.

That was the scene that Anjou Narumi stumbled upon when he waked into class that day, a "Good Morning!" frozen on his lips and violet eyes wide.

The class gave a mixed response to his arrival, either giving a mumbled reply of "Hi..." or opting to say nothing at all.

"U-umm..." he murmured, feeling uncomfortable, "how is everyone today?" he asked with a strained smile.

Once again, only a handful answered his question and the blond had a feeling that it would be a looong day.

"Narumi?"

He was correct.

"Ah! yes, Natsume-kun?" he asked, turing to the scowling teenager standing up at his desk with a more natural smile this time.

"I want to change seats."

Mikan who had already not been looking her best, flinched at the statement. Her face contorted itself into a painful grimace.

_'What the...?'_ he wondered, narrowing his eyes as the smile died of his face and was replaced by a glare. _'What did he _do_ to her?'_

"And why would I let you do something like that, hmm?" The question was cool and uncaring - eerily reminiscent of the younger Anjou Narumi that none of the younger students knew of. If the class wasn't already confused and surprised by the days events, this most defiantly threw them for a loop. If only they had seen him in his middle school days...

The fire caster was silent for a moment, conflicted, though it didn't show on his face. Emerald green eyes belonging to the ESP's right hand woman bore into him, prodding him to go on.

Natsume ground his teeth.

It was to protect her, he reminded himself.

_'In the long run, this is what's best...'_ he thought softly.

He didn't see the way that Koko's eyes widened at his left.

"I don't want to sit with an_ idiot_ like her," he said sardonically. "She's loud, obnoxious, and a waste of space."

An ignored snarl of outrage was heard from the back of the classroom, originating from the Ice Queen Hotaru.

"Detention for a week, Hyuuga." Narumi said icily. "If you skip, I'll inform _him_."

Crimson eyes widened slightly at the threat.

They stared each other down, each ignoring all of the stares, gasps, and murmurs as they did so.

A distraught Ruka was busy holding back a furious inventor as she glared holes through the back of Natsume's head.

Narumi finally spoke.

"Hate to tell you this" Natsume sincerely doubted that "but you're just going to have to deal with where you're seated. Get over it."

"Tch." Natsume mumbled.

"Now sit."

Natsume reluctantly sat down, glaring the entire time, and propped his feet up on the desk. Pulling a manga out from the desk and flipping it open randomly he covered his face, eyes staring blankly into the darkness that it created. They weren't able to see the pained look on his face because of it.

When Narumi turned to the black board, a white piece of chalk in his hand, and began the Japanese lesson there weren't even whispers.

OoOoO

Ruka was staring at Hotaru strangely from their shared seat two rows behind Natsume and Mikan's. Ever since the beginning of class, she had been muttering and whispering curses and promises of eternal pain that were all directed at a certain fire Alice. In an attempt to try and calm herself, she began working on her current invention: something that was _supposed_ to be able to give one the ability to breath underwater without the assistance of an oxygen tank but now looked like a weapon of mass destruction.

The sharp angles of the... whatever it was shone dully in the fluorescent light of the classroom. His girlfriend set down the wrench she was using and picked up a silent drill (an invention created when she would get in trouble for making noise while working during class) and created three holes. The next thing she picked up were three screws and a screw driver. Setting them just to the left of her for easy access, what she pulled out next put an evil smile on her face.

Ruka blanched, mouth falling open in horror.

Was that a katana? The heck...?

_'Natsume...'_ Ruka thought to his best friend, _'I don't know why you're acting the way you are or what's wrong with you: but watch out!'_

The blond animal lover face vaulted when Hotaru broke out into evil chuckles.

_'That's it. We're doomed.'_

OoOoO

Natsume slammed the door to the dangerous abilities classroom with a scowl. He was in a terrible mood that day for more than one reason, though the main ones involved detention with Narumi and... Mikan. Detention had started right at the end of school that day and Natsume didn't get to the DA room until almost 5. All of the academies agents had a meeting that would decide their mission for the week and being late would result in a hellish training session with Persona as punishment. And Mikan the entire day had tried to talk to him. Natsume, of course, never once replied to her pleads of "Natsume, talk to me!" and felt his heart throb painfully each time that her large hazel eyes flashed with hurt.

"Hey, Hyuuga!" one of the older boys called, "What took you so long? You were almost late." He gestured lazily to the clock nailed to the wall behind him for emphasis.

"Hn."

"Stingy..." another muttered.

That person soon found their hair on fire. The rest of the class snickered.

"The truth is," a voice interjected mischievously, "Narumi-sensei gave him detention. A weeks worth in fact."

Natsume turned to see a head of strawberry blond waves and emerald eyes. Luna Koizumi smiled wryly.

More snickers were heard.

"Wow," one boy sneered, "you got in trouble with that girly teacher? Wimp."

"Naw," one girl drawled "Girly though he may be, blondie's not a pushover. I had an older sister who went here before I did and she was in the same grade as him. Apparently he was a little devil - controlled everyone with his Alice like animals!"

"Hn."

The course of conversation followed that vein of thought until the DA meeting began for that day. Natsume was going to choose a damn difficult mission to complete tonight...

So when Persona read off the mission details about destroying a new and powerful terrorist group that included the assassination of their leader, Natsume was the first person with their hand up. Once he was chosen, it was also revealed that an additional two agents were required. It annoyed Natsume slightly, but he didn't bother to argue. He smiled grimly as he thought about who to bring on his team...

OoOoO

**That Night...**

"Kaori! Watch my back!" Natsume shouted over the blaring trill of the alarm.

Kaori did so, the hawk masked teenager taking out one of the guards with a clean kick at the enemies neck, which snapped upon impact, as she gave a swift nod of confirmation.

The previous team of three was now down to two. Daichi had been taken down early on in the mission. He was Natsume's senior by two years and the sixteen year old didn't listen to Natsume to stop moving when the fire-caster thought that he had seen someone. The cocky idiot ignored him, resulting in his death and the alarm being set off before Natsume dispatched the man.

It had been five minutes since and they were now making their way to the center of the hideout that the terrorist group was located in, throwing explosives down to be detonated later as they went.

Natsume tossed another few of the bombs down after finishing another group of enemies.

According to the map of the building he had memorized just an hour before the start of the mission, he and Kaori were nearing the part of the building where the leader of the terrorist group's office was.

The two paused when they got to a set of stairs that led to the second floor.

"What are the chances of there being an ambush at the top?" Natsume asked quickly.

"64%, sempai."

"Do you think that we will be able to beat them?"

"Since we have defeated the majority of the guards reported to be here - all of which were average fighters at best - and the office will be the most heavily guarded, I calculate a 79% success rate."

"Then let's go."

Natsume looked back to the younger girl before dashing up the stairs. Kaori Fuji: age 13. She was a tactical genius who was not only a great fighter, but had two Alices: one being teleportation and the other being wind. She had an eight year old sister who was at the academy as well. Kaori was one of Natsume's preferred people to work with: she didn't talk back, was efficient, and they had worked together several times already.

When they got to the top there was a group of ten large men.

"Prediction correct," Kaori murmured.

Fire began floating in the air all around them.

"Let's get this over with," Natsume hissed.

**A/N: Aaaand... I will stop there for now. That was not as long as the first chapter so I apologize for that but I'm aiming for a longer one next time. =)**

**Review!**


	3. Poison and Mystery Girls

**A/N: So... chapter 3 is here! Thanks for all the reviews last chapter. This is not Beta'd: there are probably mistakes so feel free to correct!**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 3: Poison and Mystery Girls**

Burning eyes like chips of rubies narrowed to a glare behind his mask as Natsume fought.

He was currently battling it out against a large, most likely six-foot-tall, man in hand-to-hand combat. The teens breath rushed out in a hiss when he was hit by a particularly powerful blow to the stomach. He retorted by sweeping his opponents feet out from under them before striking the ending blow. Natsume scowled, dusting off his hands as he watched his partner, Kaori, aim a final kick at the person she was fighting.

"Status report?" Natsume asked quickly.

They were running again, taking out the occasional guard that still lingered with Natsume's fire or the quick throw of a dagger. They didn't have time to knock them out anymore.

"Of all guards encountered, 34% were killed and 66% were knocked unconscious," She replied neatly. "We will arrive at the heads office in approximately three minutes."

"Any chance some will wake up and escape or try and stop us?"

"Chances of recovery before destruction of the building is very low. I would say about 3% sempai."

An unseen smirk found its way onto Natsume's face.

"Good."

They continued running in silence until the door to the leader of the terrorist organization came into view.

"Battle plan, sempai?" Kaori questioned, turning her head slightly to look at him through the eye-holes of her mask.

"I will take down as many guards as possible on my way in, but you will take care of the rest. _I_ will kill the leader. From there we will leave as fast as possible. As soon as we are outside, you will detonate the bombs."

He gave her a quick look.

"You have the remote, right?"

"Affirmative."

"Hn," he mumbled before saying, "Let's go."

They had arrived right at the simple wooden door that led them to their target. A strong kick to the door let them in and the two began the most important part of their mission that night.

Natsume downed three men right off the bat, covering them with flames before he continued running forward.

Just like Kaori had guessed, there were many guards in the office.

The large room they had broken into was richly furnished and Natsume smirked when he thought about how it would all go down in flames soon enough. He continued his dash to the front of the room where a young woman with long raven hair tied up into a ponytail and silvery grey eyes stood, looking rather at ease despite the fact that her organization was under attack.

Natsume snorted.

"I was sent to kill a _girl_?" he mused aloud. "Some mission..."

The woman laughed.

"Don't be so cocky..." she reached behind her back and Natsume instantly became wary, "_brat!_"

A glint of silver was all that Natsume saw before three daggers came flying at him. He barely managed to doge, flipping out of the way to avoid the lethal projectiles.

"Tch." he looked behind him to see the weapons deeply embedded into the carpeted floor.

Natsume got into a fighting stance.

"You know," he said with a sneer, "I've been in a terrible mood lately, so I hope that you'll be a good challenge for me."

Silver eyes narrowed before she attacked.

The fight didn't last long.

The woman may have fought well but Natsume was pissed. It ended with Natsume's only injuries being that of a slash in his right arm from one the many knives she apparently used to fight with and a gash on his left leg.

He turned back to see how Kaori was doing.

She just stood there watching him, bodies slumped against the walls and laying on the floor.

"Shall we go?" Natsume could tell she was smiling.

"Hn."

OoOoO

They both stood outside of the terrorists building and Natsume watched with a blank face as Kaori took out the little remote, and after hitting in a somewhat long key code on it, detonated all of the bombs that they had thrown down.

The moment that the first explosion was heard, they ran.

OoOoO

Natsume was feeling weird.

He was back at the Academy, on his way to his dorm, when he had started sweating profusely. Through eyes that were quickly becoming cloudy, he looked at the clean bandages that were on his arm and leg where he had gotten cut with the knives that the sliver eyed woman had used.

_'Crap.'_ he thought suddenly, and immediately began to pick up his pace towards his room.

He dashed through the front door and up the stairs to the top floor where his special star room was. Natsume fumbled for the key he knew was in his pocket, stuck it in the lock, and left himself in.

It was when he closed the door to his dorm room that he collapsed.

_'Stupid.'_ he thought hazily. _'Knife was... coated... Slow acting poison.'_

Arms feeling like led, he slowly crawled his way to his room where he knew that the phone the academy had given him was.

Leaning against his bed and breathing loudly he flipped the cell open and began typing in a number on a keypad he could barely see. He wanted to call Ruka, and maybe even Polka, but only the DA got phones so he called the next best person. He knew Kaori was tired, but he didn't trust anyone else to help him that he could actually get in contact with. That and she was good with poisons.

_"Hello?"_ a voice said on the other end of the line. _"Sempai?"_

"Yeah, it's me." he replied tiredly.

Kaori's voice sounded strangely fuzzy on the other end of the line.

_"What's wrong?"_

"That... that knife was coated," he took a moment to take in a deep breath, "in slow-acting... poison. I... I need you to help me... find an... antidote..."

Natsume couldn't hold out any longer and his eyes fluttered shut as the cell-phone fell to the floor.

_"Sempai? Natsume-sempai? Hold on, I'll be there soon..."_

OoOoO

That thursday, Natsume was absent from school.

Mikan sat in her seat, shifting uncomfortably while Jinno-sensei lectured them.

She glanced over to the empty seat beside her.

Wednesdays were mission days. Mikan didn't know why it was Wednesdays, but she did know that that was when they chose them. She also knew that something very bad has happened if Natsume didn't go to school the day after a mission.

Mikan clenched her fists.

"...san?"

What if he was seriously hurt?

"...kura-san...?"

Or what if he was captured by the enemy or something? That would be disastrous!

"_Sakura-san!_"

Mikan let out a small "eep!" of surprise and looked up to see a very angry Jinno staring down at her.

"Ah ha ha!" she laughed sheepishly, bringing a hand up to scratch her head. "Sorry Jin-ji-... Jinno-sensei! I spaced out..."

Jinno gave her a look of annoyance. "Don't you always?" he asked rhetorically with a small glare. Mikan shrunk in her seat. "So, would you care to give us your answer?"

Mikan looked up at the black board where the letters A, B, C, and D were written neatly with answers beside each of them.

She smiled. "Could you, uh, repeat the question?"

The class laughed at Jinno's enraged expression.

OoOoO

"You may go." Jinno said, giving Mikan a dismissive flick of his wrist and Mikan stood up and left the room.

Detention had been _long_.

It was 4:30 and she walked quietly through the generally empty hallways of the school, the only sound being the light _tip tapping_ of her shoes on the tile floor.

_'I want to see Natsume,'_ she thought with a frown.

Mikan paused when she reached the door that would let her outside. When she exited the school, if she went left she could go and see if Natsume was alright and (most likely) get yelled at by him or find him injured, help him, and _then_ get yelled at once he was all better. Or she could go to the right and just go collapse in her room and study for the Algebra exam she had tomorrow. No yelling involved.

It only took a moment for her to decide.

Mikan pushed the door open and turned towards the boys dorms.

OoOoO

She stood outside of Natsume's room, staring at the shiny gold nameplate with a single, circled star underneath of it. The name Natsume Hyuuga was printed in fancy script. Taking a deep breath, Mikan brought her hand up to knock.

_"I hate you..."_

She flinched at the memory of that night and brought her hand back down to her side.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this..." Mikan mumbled. "He'll probably just tell me to go away and call me stupid - tell me that he hates me and doesn't want to see my face."

She shook her head to clear in of those thoughts and rose her hand once more.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

The nullifier pursed her lips as she waited, hoping desperately that Natsume would answer if only to make sure that he was fine. When she heard the door handle turn from the inside, Mikan stood up straighter and breathed in deeply.

"Natsume!" she exclaimed as the door began to open, "Look, I'm sorry for bothering you but I wanted to make sure that you-"

She broke off when hazel met jade green. A girl that looked to be a year or so younger and a few inches shorter than Mikan stood before her. She had a heart shaped face and creamy skin. She had straight across bangs and soft blond hair that ended just above her shoulder framed her face. She was very pretty.

Mikan blinked.

Leaning to the side she looked back at the door to double check that this was indeed Natsume's room. It was. Her stomach dropped.

"Umm..." Mikan began slowly, looking anywhere _but_ the beautiful stranger. "Sorry for interrupting... what ever I was interrupting." Mikan stumbled over her words.

She forced a smile on her face and made herself look up to the girl.

"I'll just be going now-"

"You are Mikan Sakura." the girl said simply.

Mikan blinked once again.

"Yes..."

"Do you need something?" The girl wasn't smiling.

"Kaori?"a voice called from inside the room. "Where did you go?"

Natsume.

_'So her name is Kaori-san...'_

Mikan swallowed and bit her lip as she processed the new information.

"N-never mind," Mikan said hastily, tilting her head down to hide her face as best as possible with her bangs. "I'll just be going now."

Turning quickly Mikan ran off, away from the pretty blond and Natsume.

_'I wonder if that was his girlfriend...?'_ she thought, hating the way that her throat constricted and her eyes stung at the thought.

OoOoO

"Who was that?" Natsume asked softly, unable to work up enough strength to speak in a normal voice.

"Mikan Sakura." Kaori informed, walking over to where he lay on his bed.

"What... what did she want?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"I don't know. She ran off before she told me."

"Hn."

"You should be back to normal by tomorrow. The poison should be out of your system by then."

"..."

Kaori stared at him, green eyes probing. "Sempai, what is wrong?" she asked finally.

Natsume closed his eyes and said nothing, causing the blond to sigh.

"I'll be leaving now. If you need anything else, I'm a phone call away."

She began collecting her things, picking up a bag filled with various bottles and a small laptop. She slung her jacket over her shoulder as she walked to the door.

"Sempai?"

"Hn."

"I know you like Mikan-sempai. Talk to her - I think she was very worried about you."

She opened the door and left.

Natsume watched her go with wide crimson eyes before snorting and rolling onto his side.

"Worried?" he asked aloud. "Why would she be worried about me? Stupid girl..."

**A/N: And, we will stop there for now :D**

**Replies to Anonymous Reviewers:**

**TooLazyToLogIn XD:** Thanks! And yes, I really am the age I said I was. Glad that you like it so much!

**Thanks for reading! Question, comments, and suggestions are welcome! **

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	4. Let Me Help, Natsume

**A/N: Okaay... so here is chapter 4! Sorry I couldn't update last week, but hey - at least it's longer chapter than the last one this time, ne?**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 4: Let Me Help, Natsume**

Mikan sat in her dorm room, on top of her bed with a large, fluffy pillow clutched in her arms. She sighed dejectedly and threw the pillow across the room in a whirlwind of annoyance, anger, and - dare she say it? - jealousy before flopping onto her back. The sack of feathers thumped softy as it hit the wall across from her six feet away.

"This sucks," she whispered to the air, covering her face with a slender fingered hand. "This really, really _sucks_. Stupid Natsume..."

She had gotten back to her three-star room but ten minutes ago and the unflattering sulking had already begun as Mikan sat on her bed, wallowing in self pity and denial.

Mikan's jade colored sheets and comforter stared at her mockingly and she brunet twitched in irritation as she remembered the girl - _Kaori-san_ she reminded herself scathingly - who had been in Natsume's room. Why had she gone there in the first place?

_'Because you were worried about him,'_ she reminded herself.

"But obviously he didn't need anyone to worry about him - he has Kaori-san for that!" she huffed.

"You're talking to yourself now?" a cool voice asked wryly from the door to Mikan's room. "Great. My best friend is a schizophrenic."

Mikan blinked and sat up.

"Hotaru-chan! What are you doing here? ... Wait! I'm not a schizo- uh... schizophrenic!"

Amethyst eyes stared her down with a look that just screamed, _Stupid._

"I am simply amazed that you can't pronounce that word, but I suppose that I will ignore that for now in favor of not wasting any more of my time and getting to the point."

"Which is...?" Mikan trailed off.

"Well, first off, I came here to get back my Kanon Wakeshima CD, second, I wanted to see how you were doing, baka." She held up a ring of keys and jingled them. "And before you ask, I got in with the key you gave me a month ago."

Mikan grumbled and lay back down again before rolling on her side and away from her best friend. She didn't move when she felt Hotaru sit on the edge of the bed.

"Baka, what's wrong?" she asked in boredom, a hint of worry laced in her voice.

The panic that she was feeling inside actually began to surface when she felt her friends shoulders shake and saw her eyebrows draw together as if she was in pain.

"Natsume," she began in a scratchy whisper, "Natsume had been acting weird lately; he told me he h-hated everything about m-me and since he missed school today I was worried and when I went to go see him there was some _girl_ there in his room."

"I'm gonna _kill_ that boy," Hotaru hissed, causing Mikan to blink in surprise.

She rolled over to look at the inventor.

"W-what?" she stuttered, panicked. "No! There's a reason why he's acting that way. Persona-"

"I don't care!" Hotaru was standing now. "That little retard was terrible to you, hurt and embarrassed you in front of the entire class, and _now_ he has the nerve to go play around with some little scum bag slu-" "Hotaru! Language!" "_girl_, when you spent your time and energy worrying about him. I going to freaking castrate-"

She broke off when Mikan sat up and threw a pillow at her head, hazel eyes angry.

"Look," she said tiredly, "just let it go."

"Mikan..."

"I have known him since he was ten-years-old and I _know_ he wouldn't act that way for a reason... It just... I still hurts though, is all, you know?"

Mikan swallowed tightly and blinked several times to clear the tears that had gathered in her eyes as she calmed herself. She smiled.

"I'm glad that you're worried, Hotaru-chan," she said, smile still intact, "but it's fine. I just need to toughen up and get over it - aren't you always calling me a crybaby? There's a reason that he said he... hated me."

"Then what about the sl-" "Hotaru!" "girl? Persona is not an explanation for that."

Mikan didn't have an answer.

OoOoO

The tension in class B was noticeable as ever and the waves of anger that crackled through the air when a certain blonde haired violet-eyed teacher lay eyes on a newly recovered Natsume were suffocating.

Mikan shifted uncomfortably beside him, shooting him furtive looks when she thought he wasn't looking.

Natsume resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

It's kind of hard for someone to not notice someone else looking at them when said someone is always watching that someone else.

He blinked at this logic before suppressing a flinch at the poison filled glare aimed at the back of his head.

_'Great,_' he thought sarcastically, _'I have an overprotective best friend and Mikan's surrogate father out for my blood. Mikan met Kaori and is probably jumping to conclusions and Koko is acting weirder than usual... Welcome back to class, Natsume. Welcome back...'_

Natsume's scowl deepened when he shifted his injured arm and it stung slightly. The telltale feeling of blood dripping down his arm underneath his uniform jacket told him the scab had broken and it was bleeding again. He sighed in annoyance.

Willing it to stop quickly, he slumped into his seat and glared at the blackboard at the front of the room.

_'This sucks.'_

OoOoO

Mikan shot a look over to her seat-mate once again and watched carefully as he moved his arm and winced when he did so.

Was he hurt?

She felt a pang at the thought of Kaori being the one to fix him up after missions instead of her, even though that had been her role for the past three years.

_'Not that I care..._' she thought childishly.

She continued her observation as he glared ahead of him only stopping to look down at the open textbook in front of her when crimson eyes flickered her way. He looked back to the front of the room and she resumed watching him.

An "eep" of surprise bubbled though her lips when she saw the dark stain that she just _knew_ was blood appear on his left arm. He looked over to her in annoyance that quickly turned into surprise at as he looked at her in question. Mikan gestured wildly at his arm, somehow managing to not draw Narumi's attention as she did so.

"Dammit," Natsume grumbled, twisting to examine the blood stained fabric. He was about to stand to - pride be dammed - ask Narumi to leave the room when Mikan did it for him, bursting out of her seat and gaining all of the attention.

"Narumi-sensei!" she called, effectively catching his eye.

"What Mikan-chan?" he asked with a smile.

Mikan ignored the mumbled "two-faced bastard" as she said, "Natsume needs to go to the nurse right now. He's hurt. I'll go with him too!"

The smile froze then on her teachers face.

"Huh?"

_'She wants to _help_ him?'_

Mikan continued, oblivious to his inner turmoil.

"Yeah. He just needs to go real quick. We won't take long or anything! I'll make sure that Natsume zips in and out of there. Promise!"

She gave him her biggest smile.

Looking like he ate something bad, Narumi gave into the blinding light that was emitted from Mikan's face from her large, toothy grin and gave a stiff, "Of course, Mikan-chan!" before stomping over to the door and opening it wide open for her to walk through. With a loud thank you and another quick smile, Mikan grabbed Natsume's arm and dragged him out the door.

The class blinked as they watched the duo leave.

Once the sliding door shut Natsume stopped walking with her and jerked his wrist from her grasp with a look that made gut-wrenching hurt flash across Mikan's face. Natsume clenched his fists and did his best to ignore it, glaring at the dark figure he saw standing in the shadows of the hallway that he just knew was Persona.

"Don't touch me," he hissed, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Natsume..." she said softly. "Look, I don't now what's going on, but-"

He turned on his heel and began walking.

"Hey!" she snapped angrily, "Don't walk away from me! I'm trying to help here and you're just- just-! UGH!"

The groaned as she watched him walk away, trying her best to rein in her feelings and get though to him.

"What do you have to be like this?" she asked him. "You always do this!"

Natsume turned on her with a glare that made her freeze in surprise and a touch of fear.

"Do _what_?" he hissed.

Mikan swallowed and bit her lip before replying.

"This!" She waved her arms around and gestured to all of him at once. "You always act like a jerk whenever something is wrong and you won't let me help you! What? is Persona threatening you again? Well so what? I can take care of myself. I have nullification _and_ the S-"

Natsume's eyes went wide.

_'She not gonna talk about, _that_ Alice is she? Idiot!'_

The fire Alice jumped at her, clamping a hand over her mouth.

"Shush." he snapped, glancing around the halls. He grimaced when Persona cocked his head to the side, seemingly interested in the conversation they were having.

"Mmph Nmtse bafka!"

He needed to get away from him and he need to do it fast.

So... he dragged Mikan down the hall and to the nurses office, her kicking and cursing him the whole way.

"Ntmhs ybm jrmk!" she mumbled angrily as Nasume stood outside the door. He knocked a few times.

"Shut up Polka, I'm not-!" he choked on his words and cut off just then, realizing that he had just called her by her nickname. He felt Mikan smile beneath his hand.

Since no one seemed to be in the room he simply jerked the door open and walked in before slamming it behind him. Mikan breathed in deeply when he released her and pushed her away before making a face at him that was a cross between a smile and frown, annoyance and happiness. It was an interesting expression.

Did him saying her nickname really make her that happy?

The smile won out.

Apparently it did.

"Wipe that smile off your face, stupid. There's nothing to be happy about," Natsume said with annoyance.

The smile fell and he felt like a royal jerk just then.

"O-okay," she muttered before walking to a drawer and grabbing some gauze, cotton balls, and antiseptic. "Uh, can you take of your jacket and roll up your sleeve?"

"I don't need you help."

Mikan bit pursed her lips and looked down.

He defiantly felt like a jerk.

Knowing he shouldn't do it, but complying anyway, he walked over to one of the beds set up and sat down before tugging off his jacket and grimacing when the fabric rubbed against his wound. He looked at his left sleeve and sighed, knowing it would be impossible to roll up hit shirt past his elbow with one hand.

"Can you help?" he drawled, shaking his arms for emphasis.

The smile Mikan had on her face when he asked for her help made him think of the sun coming out from the clouds after a long storm: refreshing and beautiful.

_'What does she have to be like this?'_ he thought suddenly. _'Why does she have to be so easy to talk to and make you feel so bad for ignoring her? She's too nice...'_

"Of course!" she agreed happily.

Bringing the antiseptic with her she sat down on his left and began rolling the sleeve up, smiling the whole time. Unbidden, his lips curved slightly in response.

"Okay!" she breathed, frowning slightly at the four inch slash just above Natsume's elbow. Grabbing hold of the cotton balls she began working, cleaning the wound and wrapping it neatly with gauze, only stopping when she needed to grab something or when Natsume winced, which he learned to stop doing after the first "Are you okay?" but not always succeeding.

_'Hn. She's gotten a lot better at this'_ he thought wryly, watching as she tied off the gauze and remembering the first time she had bandaged his injuries that one night when she was eleven. It had soon become a sort of habit for the two of them that after every mission, if he was hurt, he would come by her room and she would patch him up. _'Then again she has had a lot of practice.'_

"Done!" she announced proudly. Then, "Ne, Natsume?"

"Hn."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hn."

"Why was that girl, Kaori-san, in your room last night?"

Natsume didn't answer at first.

"Natsume...?" she asked again.

"It's none of your business."

And with that sentence, the sense of normalcy that Mikan had worked so hard to achieve was ruined. She watched sadly as he stood up and unrolled his blood stained sleeve, tossed his jacket over his shoulder and walked to the door. Mikan made no move to folow but perked up when he said her name.

"Mikan?"

"Y-yes?"

"Kaori... is no one important. She's just a friend," he said softly, fidgeting slightly.

"Okay!" Mikan replied happily, standing up and walking to the door with him.

When the two got back to class that day, they would see a strangely happy Mikan Sakura and a predictably quiet, but seemingly content Natsume Hyuuga walk into the classroom. The rest of the day was calm, the tension that had previously hung around disappeared.

Unfortunately, that calamity didn't extend to the next day.

**A/N: Whew! That was actually pretty long (I think) ^^**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Review! The more reviews, the faster the update and longer the chapters :D**


	5. Gone

**A/N: Nothing much to say except thank you for everyone who reviewed! It makes me super happy ^^**

**Well, school has started and I am going to try and update every week, but I can't promise anything. I will try very hard though.**

**This chapter is for CorruptedSouls, because oddly enough, being bombarded by a reader who really wants me to update was funny and kinda, well, fun. ;D**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 5: Gone**

Mikan woke up to sun light shining in her face and birds twittering all around her. Sitting up and stretching her arms and curling her toes she blinked a few times and looked around her room.

"Mmm..." she mumbled. "That was a nice - _yawn _- sleep... I wonder how much longer I have until... oh crap!"

Twirling round she looked at the the glowing green numbers of her alarm clock. It was 10:34 in the morning.

"Oh, no no no no!" She wailed, falling back down to the bed. "I can't believe it!"

It was that weekend that a school-wide trip to Central Town was planned. She and Hotaru were going to hang out that day and go to the new French Cafe that opened a couple of week ago. And she had overslept! The bus had left over an hour ago and there was no chance of her getting there now...

"Ugh. Hotaru-chan is so going to kill me..."

Sighing sadly she rolled out from her covers and stood up before walking over to her bathroom, grabbing some jean shorts and a red short sleeve shirt on the way. Well, even if she wasn't going to Central Town today, Mikan was at least going to go walk around the campus. It was better then sitting around her room after all.

OoOoO

Mikan's breaths came in bursts as she ran, sometimes stumbling, across the academy. She didn't dare look back to see if _he_ had caught up.

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap..._

Her footsteps echoed dully off the brick walls of the various buildings.

Midday and and the sun shone harshly overhead. Sweat dripped down her face. The trip hadn't been a mandatory thing and since everyone but a handful of students wanted to go on the trip, the campus was empty. Those who stayed were more that likely sitting in their rooms. Safe.

How did oversleeping lead to something like this?

"I just wanted to go out for a simple walk. Is that too much to ask?" She huffed as she spoke, her words coming out slightly choppy.

She looked around for somewhere to hide but saw only the sharp angles of the elementary branch buildings which weren't good for hiding at all.

_'Where, where where?'_ she asked herself repeatedly, eyes darting around her.

Mikan looked over to her left at the massive group of trees that was the Northern Forest. It was a well known fact that it was extremely dangerous and for that reason, forbidden for students to enter. Mikan knew firsthand - she had gone in there when she was ten-years-old in order to pass the "test" that Natsume had come up with when she first came to the Academy.

_'Should I risk it...?'_ she asked herself.

The nullifier chanced a glance back. She didn't see the man who was chasing her, but that didn't mean he wasn't far behind. From her experience with the man, it was more likely that he was just toying with her than her actually having outrun him.

_["If you see him, run. Don't wait and ask questions, just run Polka. He... Nothing good can come from being around him. Trust me."]_ she remembered Natsume telling her a few years back.

Well, she was running. But Mikan wasn't too sure if it would do her any good.

_[Just run Polka. Trust me.]_

Mikan bit her lip.

_'I hope this works!'_

She wheeled to the left and ran into the forest.

OoOoO

She had put up a good chase so far, he decided. For an untrained girl at least.

Persona watched as she took a moments pause to catch her breath. Her face was red and sweat was pouring off of her.

"Her endurance needs work," he observed behind his mask in his chilling voice. Mikan began running again. "But her speed isn't that bad."

He actually had to admit that he was impressed. When Persona had cornered her that morning the brunet had still been sleepy from haven just woken up and a little bit down because she missed the trip to Central Town. One look at his face - or at least what she could see of it - and she was wide awake, hazel eyes alert and muscles tensing for a run. The expression on her face was priceless when he had told her that she was to go with him to answer some... questions. From there she had evaded him fairly well, taking wild zigzagging patterns and loops around the school to try and loose him. And going into the forest? When she knew how dangerous it was, just so she could throw him off?

Mikan would make a good agent.

As the girl ran on the forest floor Persona followed in the treetops, jumping from one branch to another at an even pace. It was when Mikan tripped and did a face-plant into the grass that he decided to rain on her parade and show himself to her. He liked the fear that crept into her eyes when he jumped down in front of her.

Mikan, panicking, clawed at the ground to find something - anything - to defend herself with as she scrambled to her feet.

She barely managed to suppress her grin when her fingers closed around a rough stone.

Throwing her arm back in prepatation, she chucked the rock at Perona's ebony haired head before running off again.

Behind her the DA teacher blinked as he brought his fingers to his temple. Warm blood wet his hand. He had dodged it but apparently not well enough if the wound on the side of his head was anything to go by.

"Hm. Resourceful little brat, isn't she? Good aim as well..."

With a wicked grin he went back to chasing after her.

OoOoO

They were sitting on a bench under the shade of a sakura tree in the middle of central town. Shoppers walked around in groups, chattering happily among themselves. The smell of food wafted by from a nearby stand.

"Ne, Natsume?" Ruka asked, poking his best friend in the cheek and hoping to get his attention after the fourth time of calling his name.

No response.

The blond grumbled in annoyance. Cupping his hands around his mouth he leaned over to shout right into Natsume's ear. Hopefully he wouldn't kill him for doing so.

"_Natsume!_"

With a jerk of surprise that quickly turned into annoyance Natsume turned to glower at his best friend.

"_What_?" he hissed, crimson eyes narrowed.

Ruka blinked in surprise at the venom in his voice.

"Jeeze," he mumbled, looking down at his feet. Beside him Natsume sighed and put a hand over his face before leaning back slightly.

"Look, I'm sorry," he grumbled. "I... I'm just stressed, okay?"

Ruka smiled.

"Yeah."

"So what did you want?"

"Nothing much. Just to talk I guess."

"Hn."

"So..."

"..."

"Have you seen Mikan around?"

"No."

The blond gave a smal nod before tilting his head back to look at the sakura blossoms.

"Oh. Well, I've been looking for her, but I haven't seen her since yesterday night during dinner... I wonder where she is?"

"Tch," Natsume mumbled nonchalontly. "Idiot probably overslept."

Both happy at the fact that the fire caster seemed to care about the nullifier again and worried that he hadn't seen her in so long, what with everything that had happened the past few days, Ruka was caught between a smile and a small frown but settled for a tightlipped grin.

Call it a feeling, but something felt wrong about her not being there.

"Maybe," Ruka agreed quietly. "But I have to wonder if that's all it is..."

Natsume turned to look at his friend, question in his eyes.

The conversation ended there.

OoOoO

Mikan was sitting in the space between the roots of a large oak tree that she had managed to sqeeze into. She was much too tired to run anymore and this was her last resort. If he found her now, it was all over.

Once again she flashed back to the conversation they had had all that time ago.

_["But what if he catches me anyways?" she had asked._

_Natsume just looked at her and said, "Then I'll save you."]_

"'I'll save you' my butt."Mikan muttered angrily. "Well? Where is he now?"

A deep chuckle filtered through the air and down to where she was hiding.

"Not close enough," Persona answered.

Mikan watched in horor as the tree roots around her began to turn black and crumble into dust where the masked man's hand was. She backed away until her back was against the tree. Of course it wasn't enough.

"W-what do you want?" she managed to stutter out.

"Hmm...?" Persona said innocently. "Oh, not much kitten. Just to make you the newest addition of the Dangerous Abilities class. After all, your second Alice will be a powerful weapon."

Mikan gasped.

"Oh, you didn't know? I was listening in to that little conversation you had with the Black Cat yesterday in the hall, and this mysterious Alice you were talkin about interested me. You'd be amazed what you can find out with just a little bit of research."

He leaned down and sneered at her.

"The SCE Alice is so powerful too..."

He reached a hand towards her.

"Now, come along quietly or I will be forced to subdue you."

The little color that was left in her face quickly drained away.

_'Somebody,'_ she pleaded mentally, _'Anybody. Help!'_

OoOoO

So apparently Mikan was missing.

Natsume's stomach twisted at the thought.

They had gotten back from Central Town, it was about two o'clock in the afternoon and she hadn't been found in her room or on any of the schools grounds. The only place left to check was the North, South, East, and West Forest's which a team was quickly being gathered to do.

"Sempai."

Natsume glanced over from where his gaze was trained on the Northern Forest. As a DA agent he was part of the Northern search team since it was the most dangerous. Coincedentally, their teacher was no where to be found.

"What Kaori?"

"We will find her. We have the best of the best out to search for her - she'll be found in no time by one of us."

_'And that's what I'm worried about: who finds her,'_ Natsume thought.

"Hn."

"Students of the DA," a voice shouted. "Attention!"

Natsume glanced over to see one of the senior Dangerous Ability students standing at the entrance of the forest.

"The missing person is Mikan Sakura, age fourteen. She has the Alice of nullification and recent news suggests she may have a second unknown one." Natsume went cold. "This girl is a high priority person. I expect her to be found by the end of the day and brought back to us. Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah," one girl replied with a scowl. Natsume didn't know her name, but he didn't like her already. "Why are we going to all of this trouble for one girl? I mean really? Four search teams for one person is overkill. In the past we never did something like this."

The senior glared at her from where he stood and the girl seemed to wilt a little bit under his cold stare.

"That is classified information. Just do your job." he snapped.

She nodded quickly.

_'This has to do with her mom, doesn't it? And her Alice.' _Natsume cursed mentally.

One of the biggest secrets in the Academy had to do with Mikan and her parentage. When he was ten, he had overheard a conversation about it: Mikan's mother was Yuka Azumi, an enemy of the Academy and member of the AAO. During the Alice festival that year the AAO was going to infiltrate the Academy for unknown reasons, but the Academy had found it out and stopped it from happening. He never told Mikan what he knew.

"Alright people, move out!"

Natsume dashed into the forest with the rest of search party #3 heart racing and nerves twisting his stomach.

"I'm coming Mikan," he whispered.

**A/N: Thanks for reading and for all of those who reviewed last chapter. I was very happy!**

**I would like to make a challenge for all of you, by the way, which will of course be met with a reward: If I can get 15 reviews I will both make an extra long chapter next week _and_ post a one-shot. If not, it will just be a regular update ^_^**

**Thanks! Review please~!**


	6. Her Sacrifice

**A/N: You all met the challenge and passed! The total review count for the last chapter was 21, though that does _not_ include the reviews that I got for other chapters. The one-shot that I promised is up and is called _MikanBot. _It's a humor fict, and I think that you all will like it so go check it out!**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 6: Her Sacrifice**

Raven hair whipping wildly behind his face, Natsume was running as fast as he could manage without tripping over the rough terrain of the forest. The rest of the search party left far behind, Kaori was the only one able to keep up with him, her lithe form weaving in and out of the trees six feet behind him.

Crimson eyes swept over the ground, looking for any signs that he could find that would tell him where Mikan had gone off to. Or been taken.

Blackened leaves caught his attention and Natsume held up his hand up for Kaori to see, letting her know that something had been found. The two skidded to a stop and, legs feeling like Jell-o, Natsume bent down to touch the dead leaves. They crumbled to dust the moment he made contact with them and he watched blankly as a small the faintest of breezes swept the ashes away. Natsume clenched his fists tightly and cursed.

"I knew it!" he roared. "Persona got to her... Dammit. This is all my fault...!"

"Natsume-sempai," Kaori interjected easily, jade eyes looking down in concern, "none of this is your-"

"But it _is _Kaori. _Don't you get it? _That man was listening in on our conversation yesterday and if I hadn't stopped her Mikan would have blurted out her-" Natsume stopped short and blinked. "Never mind. Let's just say that what she did say got Persona interested. And an interested Persona..."

"... is a potentially deadly one."

"Precisely."

"..."

"Status report?" he asked after a moment.

"A full sweep is being made of all forest and a secondary search of the school grounds. The East, South, and West forest should be at approximately the 64% mark as far a searching goes. The Northern Forest has only been searched at 47% at the most due to the fact that it is so much larger than the other three. As each team completes their search they will come and join the Northern team."

Natsume nodded.

"Let's get moving."

OoOoO

_'Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap...!'_Mikan repeated quickly in her mind. She had no way to escape: she knew that without a doubt. But when her only other option was to surrender to this - Mikan was hesitant to say the word 'person' because she was pretty sure that he was a demon of some sort right now - _man_, she knew that she would just have to think up something anyway.

She looked around her surroundings wildly, trying to find an escape path of some kind. There wasn't any-

_Clink!_

And that was when she heard the soft sound of a stone moving against the metal charm of one of the few necklaces she wore at the base of her throat and remembered Natsume's gift. A plan coming to her instantly, Mikan brought a hand up to her neck and clutched the chain she knew that the Alice stone was connected to.

_'I have one chance at this,_' she told herself with determination. _'And I'm going to make it count.'_

From his place in front of her, Persona frowned. Just a moment ago, a flash of determination had entered the brunets eyes and it made him feel inexplicably uneasy.

_'What is she up to...?'_ he wondered.

When he saw her barely suppressing a smirk he actually faltered, and that would end up being the first mistake he would make that day, because apparently he had just provided the 'moment' Mikan needed and next thing he knew, Persona was engulfed by a wall of flames.

OoOoO

He had just leapt over a fallen tree when he sensed it: a faint pulsing in the air that was very familiar to him. It was warm and it was filled with life and desires and emotions that Natsume would never admit to feeling aloud. He knew what this was. And he also knew that if he could just find the source of that pulse he would find Mikan.

He had never been so glad to have given Mikan the Alice stone in his whole life.

It was a little known fact that some Alice stones, depending on the emotions put into it while creating it, would give off a sort of homing signal to its creator when someone used it or were preparing to. The emotions required for this to work were always good ones and were felt strongly, so it was a form of protection for the stones wielder and it was defiantly helping Natsume just then.

Instead of continuing his straight path Natsume darted to the left and in a burst of speed, covered a quarter mile in well under a minute his mind racing the entire time. He didn't know quite when he had lost Kaori, but he did know that when he found Mikan that she defiantly was not with him.

She looked like crap, backed up against that tree: leaves and dirt were in her hair and on her clothes, and Natsume noticed with anger that she had some cuts and scraps on her arms and legs and one long one on her cheek. But even so, her eyes were calculating and her hand was clutching the Alice stone he had given her one moment, and the next Persona was attempting to block the stream of flames being shot at him. This quick thinking and clever girl was a whole new side to Mikan that Natsume had never seen before and the surprise that lit up Mikan's eyes when her plan worked told Natsume that she didn't know that she had it in her either. Go figure.

The teacher roared in anger, his arms crossed over his face as meager protection as orange flames licked at his arms and lit the sleeves of his black shirt aflame.

While he was distracted Mikan made her escape and Natsume followed soon behind her, unknown to both the nullifier and the DA teacher.

She jumped up and did an uncharacteristically graceful leap over one of the tree's larger roots before her feet carried her away from the scene. Behind her Persona was beating out the flames on his clothes, hissing at the stinging pain on his forearms which had taken most of the heat. He could see from the fabric that had been burned away completely that the skin was red and raw. It was going to take a number of weeks for the damage to heal completely after this. It was unbelievable that such an inexperienced had done what she had done to the fearsome DA teacher.

Persona just smiled.

"She won't just be a good agent," he murmured to himself, "she will be the _best_."

A dark chuckle floated through his lips.

Insanity really did destroy the mind.

OoOoO

She panted heavily, her heart racing not just from the physical exertion but from the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins after that last encounter.

"Mikan!" a voice shouted behind her, but for some reason the sound didn't register in her mind.

She swallowed uncomfortably as she kept on running. Her throat was dry and she was tired. So, so tired.

And where the heck was Natsume?

He was looking for her right?

"Mikan! Wait!" the voice was much closer this time and Mikan blinked in surprise. She started to turn her head, not slowing down just in case this person was unfriendly, to see who was behind her - if _he _was really there like her brain was telling her he was and not just a hallucination - when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and brought Mikan to a forced stop.

Hot breath brushed across her ear as the person breathed hard from running, soft hair tickled her cheek. His chest was against her back and she felt his heartbeat thumping quickly. Mikan stiffened in surprise.

Eyes sliding to the right, hazel met crimson and she nearly melted in relief.

"Natsume..." she murmured softly before a full blown grin stretched across her face. She spun in his arms and attacked him with a hug that sent the fire caster crashing to the forest floor. "Natsume! You came! You really came...!"

The tension that had left her as soon as she saw Natsume quickly turned into happiness and when the reality of the situation finally hit her, exhaust and tears.

"I-I was so s-scared," the mumbled into his chest, tears of exhaustion sliding down her cheeks. "I was afraid you w-wouldn't come find me."

Natsume just hugged her close to him, not minding that he was getting dirty, lying on the ground like he was. He didn't care.

Mikan was safe.

OoOoO

She had followed Natsume's trail to here where a ruined tree stood. Fire scorched the ground and a heavily wounded Persona stood in the center of it all.

"She will be the _best_," she had heard him say excitedly from where she was hidden, and the grin on his face made Kaori go cold.

_Natsume-sempai, _she called out to her partner, using the small telekinesis Alice stone that both she and Natsume had received before entering the forest.

_Hm? _he replied quickly. He sounded oddly relaxed and Kaori put two and two together to realize that he must have found Mikan. She was glad.

_I will distract Persona. He is within view and I can give you and Mikan-sempai enough time to get back to the school grounds before I will be forced to retreat. When you get there go to the high school principal and tell him that you need to enact code 34072331 and activate plan BLACK for Mikan. Don't ask questions: just know that it will protect Mikan from Persona and the ESP._

_Hn. Be careful,_ he told her.

Kaori had said that she would keep Persona distracted and she would. But careful? What she was about to do was nothing short of suicidal and quite honestly she didn't care. The only regret she would have if she didn't walk out of this alive was that her cute little sister would be all alone. But even then some things were worth dying for. Mikan was special and the blond wasn't quite sure that anyone had realized just _how_ special she was just yet.

But Kaori knew.

She had been told by Yuka Azumi herself four years ago.

Having just turned nine, she had been on the team that had stopped Yuka during the Alice festival. The rest of her team had been downed by Yuka's men and it was just her left. Kaori had been prepared to fight, but then Yuka had told her a story: one about the injustices and horrors performed by the ESP and how she and her lover fought against it only for him to die and her be left with Mikan. It told Kaori everything that she had never known about Gakuen Alice - it's deepest darkest secrets - and it had changed Kaori forever.

She had been a double agent ever since.

_Ne, sempai?_ she asked quietly, walking towards Persona as she did so.

_What?_

_Take care of my little sister, alright? Just incase._

_Kaori? What the hell are you planning on doing?_ his voice had become slightly panicked.

Just one more step and Kaori would be close enough so that her deranged teacher would see her.

_I'm doing what's right._

And then she cut off the connection and stepped forward.

OoOoO

Mikan knew that something was wrong when Natsume suddenly went stiff and, while being gentle about it, sat up with a panicked look in his eyes.

"Natsume...?" the little brunet asked in confusion. "What's wrong...?"

She had stopped crying a few minutes ago but her voice was slightly scratchy from it nonetheless.

"We need to get moving," he told her, his eyes going hard. But a touch of pain was held in them.

Mikan nodded. "Fine. But tell me what happened? All of the sudden you became... tense."

"You know Kaori?"

"Yeah."

"She's letting herself be a distraction so that we can get back to the school and to the High school principal without having to worry about Persona."

Mikan blanched.

"But I got out of that mess with surprise and dumb luck!" she panicked. "If Kaori-san goes she'll-!"

"I know, Polka."

She didn't even bother glare at him for the nickname.

"But-"

"She wants to do this."

"So what if she wants that! She can't just throw herself into danger that way! How could you be so cruel? That's not fair," she snapped at him.

Natsume looked down.

"I _know_."

And it was then that Mikan realized just how much going along with Kaori's plan was going to hurt. He was her mission partner and Mikan was pretty sure that they had a very close relationship.

"Natsume, I..." Mikan trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"She has a little sister, you know."

Mikan just stared.

"She's eight years old and her name is Ringo. Her older sister is her idol and she follows her everywhere she goes... Kaori told me to take care of her. 'Just incase'." He spat out the last part bitterly.

Standing up, Mikan tried to give Natsume the biggest grin she could possibly muster, which wasn't much. It was the thought that counted.

"Well then," she told Natsume, looking down at him with a hand held out. "Let's get moving! We aren't going to let Kaori-san's sacrifice go to waste!"

Crimson eyes stared at her before Natsume gave a small, forced smile of his own and took her hand.

"Hn."

OoOoO

Kaori let out a painful gasp. She could just _feel_ her systems shutting down ever so slowly and very painfully as Persona's Alice killed her.

Laying face down in the dead grass and fallen leaves, Kaori cried silently.

_'I'm sorry, Ringo,'_ she thought sadly to her sister.

She had done what she told Natsume she would do: she had held Persona off and had even wounded him some. But in the end he won. Just like she had thought he would.

Kaori briefly wondered if they would blame her death on a wild animal attack in place of the truth. It was very likely.

Black boots stepped towards Mikan and she saw Persona glaring down at her with disdain. He shook his head and called her "pathetic" and a "failure" in his dead voice before walking away and leaving her to die.

"Well," the jade eyed teen croaked, "I guess this is it. I hope that Yuka-san is proud of me..."

"I am," a soft voice said from above her and Kaori gasped when she saw the graceful form of Yuka Azumi herself standing above her. "You did good, Kaori. But don't be writing your will just yet - I'm here to save you."

Yuka gave her a wry grin before bending down towards her and activating her infamous stealing Alice. Kaori could feel Persona's Alice being simply drawn out of her body and she began to regain the warmth that she had lost while lying there, waiting to die.

Ten minutes of concentration and energy from Yuka later, Kaori was sitting up slowly and staring at the older woman in amazement. The Alice thief simply wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, tired from using her Alice and looked at her.

"You'll live," she told her, "but you can't go back to the Academy. It's not safe."

"I know," Kaori admitted with a small frown. She had been prepared to never see her sister again, but now that she was _not_ going to die... She sighed and looked straight at the woman who had changed her life.

"I'm ready to go."

"Well then get up and follow me. Shiki is waiting at the edge of the forest to transport us out of here."

"Yes ma'am."

**A/N: Wow! This was over 3,000 words! *breaths deeply* that was a whole lot of typing...**

**Now: first I have a note for you all and then I will give you all Challenge #2.**

**So first off, I don't know if this is a normal occurrence for authors... but, for those of you who have flamed me and told me that I "suck at writing" and should "do the site a favor and quit writing"? Get over yourself. I _know_ that I'm not a very good author, but back off, k? If you don't like it then tell me why. Otherwise? Shut up.**

**And on a happier note...! _Challenge #2:_ I know for a fact that I have 43 author alerts as of now and I'm not going to ask for that many reviews because that would be _insane_ and I doubt that it would happen (though I do invite you all to try ;D), but I will ask for 20 this time. The reward? A double update (2k+ each of course) and a one-shot either the same weekend or the week after. And once again: this is just a challenge that benefits you if you complete it. If I don't get all 20 I will still keep updating ^^**

**Review!**


	7. Hospital

**A/N: Hmm... I would like to say "Well, met! You guys won the challenge!" but unfortunatly I cannot. You were a few reviews short, which is kinda odd considering the fact that last chapter I got more than 20 reviews, but... whatever.**

**Anyway, this is just a normal update and for everyone who did review: thanks a ton! I loved getting them all ^^**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 7: Hospital**

Natsume burst into the high school principals office loudly. He had dropped Mikan off at the hospital where she was being personally watched and guarded by Hotaru and Tsubasa as she got her injuries treated and some major rest. All in all the little brunet had been okay, but he had noticed when he was taking her back to the school that her hands were cut up from, what he assumed was, falling. How neither of them had noticed until the were walking out of the forests entrance, Natsume would never know...

"President Yukihara," Natsume said seriously. His crimson eyes were hard and his face wore a scowl.

"Natsume Hyuuga," the tall blond replied in monotone. His blue eyes were narrowed at the teen. "You do realize that it's _rude_ to just barge in like this, don't you?"

The flame caster just huffed in annoyance.

"Hn. Mikan Sakura has been found."

Tension that Natsume hadn't even realized was there left Kazu Yukihara's shoulders at those words and he blinked owlishly in response.

"And...?"

"Agent Hawk used herself as a... decoy... in order for Mikan and I to get away. She also told me to tell you to enact code 34072331 and activate plan BLACK."

"Right," the tall man murmured showing no reaction to the fact that Kaori had died. "She has a little sister, right?"

Natsume glared at him and nodded stiffly.

"Will you inform her about this tragedy that has occurred? I think it will be better for you to than anyone else since you knew Hawk so well."

Another nod.

"Alright then," he breathed, his face as blank as ever, his voice just as apathetic. "Go inform Hawk's sister and-" he tossed Natsume a small white box, "-give this to Mikan-san."

"Yes sir."

When the principal turned back to the papers on his desk Natsume just stared for a moment, studying his features: blonde hair, fair skin and icy blue eyes. He was the complete opposite of Mikan with her honey brown locks and smiling hazel eyes, but something about him...

"Do you need something, Hyuuga-san?"

The monotone voice of Principal Yukihara broke Natsume out of his thoughts and he shook his head once.

"Nothing sir. Sorry, sir," he paused. "But... may I ask what this is for?"

Natsume lifted up the little box for his superior to see.

"That, you do not need to know," he replied and the tone of his voice told Natsume that he was not to ask any other questions.

Nasume grit his teeth in response and with a short bow, left the room. When he shut the door to the office, Natsume stopped walking and stopped to look around him. No one was around.

Carefully removing the tape that kept the box closed, Natsume popped open the lid to look inside.

He sucked in a breath of suprise.

"What the..?"

OoOoO

Mikan woke up to the methodical beeping sound of a heart monitor and the smell of antiseptic. She wrinkled her nose in distaste and sat up slowly, not quite processing where she was. Opening her eyes, she saw only the blurry silhouette of her hospital room and rose her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes.

Soft material met her skin and Mikan blinked in surprise and looked down to see her hands wrapped neatly in white gauze.

"What on earth?" Mikan wondered aloud and looked around. "The hospital? Why-?"

Memories rushing back in a blur Mikan stiffened and gasped looking around herself wildly.

"Where's Natsume? And Kaori-san-!"

The door to her room slid open and an expressionless doctor that she identified as being Subaru Imai walked in.

"Hello, Mikan-san," he said monotonously,"I see you are awake."

She nodded slowly, forcing herself to calm down.

_'It's all passed. Natsume is safe and Kaori-san... Kaori-san is...'_

Mikan blinked back the tears that had begun to prick at her eyes quickly.

"Is something wrong Mikan-san?"

She forced a smile and looked up at him.

"Nope! And it's Mikan_-chan _Subaru-nii. I've told you before and even Hotaru-chan agrees. So, uh, why am I here?"

"Ah. Hyuuga-san dropped you off yesterday evening. You were so exhausted that you had fallen asleep and he had to carry you the whole way here." Mikan winced guiltily. "We cleaned and wrapped all of your various cuts and scratches but the worst of them were on your hands. Doctor Hikari spent about twenty minutes picking out all of the bits of gravel and rock that had gotten dug into her palms."

"But I never-"

"I'm assuming that you didn't notice it due to the adrenaline, but your hands were very cut up. Can you deny falling?"

The nullifier flushed and shook her head.

"Of course she can't," a voice drawled from behind Subaru, and out stepped a miniature, female version of Subaru: Hotaru. "She's a clumsy idiot after all."

"Hotaru-chan!" Mikan exclaimed happily as a smile lit up her features and she tried to get up, but a firm hand on her shoulder kept her from attacking her best friend with a hug.

_Not yet._ Subaru mouthed and Mikan pouted but didn't resist.

Amethyst eyes holding a slight sparkle of happiness in them, the inventor walked over to her friends hospital bed, sat on the edge of it, and gave her a huge hug.

"I'm glad your okay, baka-Mikan," she whispered to her and Mikan smiled happily and hugged her back.

"Yeah..." the smile turned slightly melancholy. "I just wish that everyone else had come back okay too..."

Hotaru blinked and broke the hug to look and the brunet questioningly and with a rare display of concern.

"Mikan..." she began.

"Oy, oy," sounded another voice, "back off from chibi-chan. I want to see her too, Imai."

Tilting her head back, Mikan's hazel met the midnight blue of her favorite sempai: Tsubasa Andou. His usual hat was stuck firmly on his head and his spiky blue locks were as wild as ever, albeit slightly longer than usual and his bangs ended just past the little black star - his "punishment mark" - on his cheek.

"Tsubasa-sempai?" she asked in disbelief.

"The one and only," he grinned cockily.

Mikan made a move to include her sempai in the hug too, but a scowling Hotaru pulled Mikan back and held a single delicate hand up for Tsubasa to stop.

"Don't move another muscle, Andou. I'm still spending time with the idiot and you don't get her until I say so."

Tsubasa's jaw dropped.

"No way! You may have been worried when Mikan was missing, but not as much as _I_ was! Now hand her over."

Hotaru simply pulled Hotaru closer and smirked.

"No."

And so the glaring contest began...

OoOoO

Ruka had gone to Mikan's hospital room with a smile on his face in flowers in hand. It really was nice that Mikan was alright, though no one had told him just _what_ had happened yet...

He knocked on the door before opening it.

"Hi Sakura-san!" he greeted cheerily, "I'm glad that-"

_Baka! Baka! Baka! Baka!_

"Crap!"

Ruka flinched and covered his head with his face before realizing that he hadn't been hit. Blinking blue eyes slowly, he looked down and saw Tsubasa at his feet, a red mark on his cheek from where he had gotten hit and a pissed off looking Hotaru holding a smoking toy pistol towards him. Her arm was firmly latched around Mikan.

"I told you: I'm still hanging out with Mikan. Know your place," she sneered at the twitching teen on the floor before turning her bored gaze towards Ruka. "Do you need something, Ruka?"

The blond animal lover paled at the sickeningly sweet tone she used on him and shook his head quickly.

"Just wanted to say hi and give these to Mikan!" He tossed the bouquet of flowers at Mikan before turning tail and fleeing from the wrath of Hotaru Imai. He didn't have a death wish after all. "Byeeeeeee!"

Staring at the ajar hospital door and then to the flowers at the foot of Mikan's bed, Hotaru snorted and shook her head.

"Ano, Hotaru-chan?" Mikan asked hesitantly.

"Hm?"

"You uh, didn't have to do that you know."

She smirked.

"I know."

They sat in silence and Mikan studied her sempai's body from the bed. He wasn't moving anymore.

"If you killed him," Mikan informed Hotaru with a small frown, "then Misaki-sempai will kill _you_, you know."

Hotaru just shrugged.

"He'll live. I think."

Mikan giggled and smiled at her friend, saying, "Let's hope so!"

There was yet another silence and this one stretched a lot longer that the first.

Hotaru was watching Mikan who was thinking again. Her mind kept on going back to Kaori and what she had done for her and it just killed Mikan inside. If she hadn't overslept or was able to protect herself better, then Kaori would have lived! Or that's what she kept telling herself.

"You're thinking of that girl aren't you? The one who gave herself up so you could get away?" Hotaru's voice asked, breaking through her thoughts.

Mikan jumped in surprise and looked with wide eyes at her best friend.

"How did you-?"

"Know that?"

Mikan nodded.

"Hyuuga told me."

"He did...? He must be so mad at me now. If I had been faster or gotten up on time or just never even left my room, then Kaori-san wouldn't have had to do what she did. She wouldn't have had to-" she stopped her words there. She didn't want to say it. If Mikan did, it would just be confirming that...

"Die?" Hotaru finished and she watched with worry as Mikan's head fell and her shoulders began to shake.

"It's all my _fault_," she choked out.

"Mikan..."

From under long, dark lashes, the brunet looked up with teary eyes to her best friend.

"She had a little sister you know..." she began.

Hotaru couldn't say anything.

"Her name is Ringo and she's eight. Her big sister is her idol and the only person who she really trusts."

She wiped roughly at her eyes.

"And now, she's going to have someone come up to her today and tell her that her big sister is gone - tell her that she's all alone in the academy and that her nee-chan wasn't coming back. I bet she'll cry. I bet she'll hate me when she hears who's fault it is."

"She won't," Hotaru's said firmly, squeezing Mikan's hand.

"Yes she will."

"No, she won't. Kaori-san gave her life to protect you and if her sister hates you for a choice that _Kaori made_ then she's stupid and not worth your worry and guilt anyway." She smiled at Mikan. "Besides, how could she hate you? Your too stupid and lovable for that."

Lips curved up slightly, Mikan gave a playful push to hotaru for the stupid comment before sighing.

"I hope your right..."

**Okay. So it was a rather uneventful ending, but I hope that you all liked the chapter anyway! Wondering what _that_ is? We'll next week you'll know!**

**No official challenge this week, but I still do have something that I want you all to try and do. This week, let's try for those 20 reviews and if we can make it to that mark, then next week I might just go ahead and do that double update anyway ;D**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Review please!**


	8. My Name is Ringo

**A/N: Sorry for not updating in so long you guys... death does that to some people. It also gave me a mild case of writers block, but... yeah D:**

**For everyone that was wondering where I disappeared off to last week, go check out my profile for the explanation. *If I'm ever not going to update I will post it on there***

**On a happier note: Omg! We hit the 100 review mark! XD**

**Also, I think that some of you may be seriously confused when it comes to the challenges I put up. I'm still going to update wether or not I get the review goal (emphasis on _goal_). If the goal is not met? Oh well. If it is? Then great! It's just something that I am doing for fun because I like feedback and because every time that the quota is met you guys get something in return. That's all. ^^**

**Enjoy~!**

**__****Chapter Dedication:** To my good friend Shaila who shone so bright for to short a time. RIP September 2010  


**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 8: My Name is Ringo**

"Here."

Mikan caught the small white box with a slight fumble before staring at Natsume in confusion.

"What's this?" she asked, studying what she had given him.

It had been several hours since Mikan first woke up and one Subaru had deemed her fit, she was discharged with the simple orders to be more careful next time and get some more sleep. She would oblige.

Mikan was walking under a line of trees on her way to her room when she, once again, quite literally ran into Natsume; tripping and falling like the clumsy girl she was and if she hadn't been wearing the jeans and t-shirt that Hotaru had brought for her, she probably would also be displaying her panties for him to see. Again.

And that was when he had given her the box.

Natsume's only response to her question was a shrug of the shoulders and Mikan pouted childishly.

"Hn. Just open it," he told her.

So she did.

Inside was an oddly shaped Alice stone that was a solid black and had the intricate form of a lotus blossom.

"Oh..."

"It's not from me. I'm just the delivery boy," he told her.

"Who did give it to me then?"

"Just someone who wants to protect you."

Mikan gave a small nod, still confused, before reaching out to touch the cool looking surface of the stone flower when something that Mikan would later describe as "completely surprising" happened: the lotus began to glow and was absorbed into her body, a small black flower the size of a quarter appearing on the palm of the right hand she had touched it with right below her thumb.

Mikan shrieked in surprise, jumping and dropping the box in the process and an equally shocked looking Natsume Hyuuga ran over to her, grabbing her hand and inspecting it.

"This..." he murmured, studying the mark with calculating eyes. "What is this...?"

"You mean you don't _know_?" Mikan asked in horror.

"No."

"But-!"

"Look, Polka," Mikan scowled, "It can't be anything bad if _he_ gave it to you but I'll figure out what it is soon, okay?"

"Okay," she said reluctantly and Natsume bent down to pick up the fallen box, snapping it shut before handing it to her.

"You can keep that," she told him with a wary look at the object.

"Hn."

He pocketed it.

"Ne, Natsume?" Mikan asked after a moment. Her voice was uncharacteristically hesitant and Natsume looked up to see a nervous expression on her face.

"What?" he asked, because he wanted to know what would cause such an expression to come to her face.

"You won't ignore me anymore, right? You- I mean- Uh. Just, whatever was making you act like you hate me: it's gone?"

She was worried over him, Natsume realized with shock and eventually that shock became happiness and one of his extremely rare little smiles came to his face. It was just a small upturning of his lips, but even so it made Mikan's eyes go wide in surprise and her cheeks reddened slightly.

"Yeah," he replied, smile still intact. "It's alright."

And it really was. Because after everything that had happened the past day and with the HSP backing him, there was no way that he would bend to Persona's rule. No way in hell.

But then other priorities came to mind and to Mikan's disappointment his smile melted away, replaced by a serious expression and he turning burning crimson eyes one her.

"Polka, I have to go," he told her and something in his eyes let Mikan know just what he was about to go and do.

"Good luck," she whispered looking down, and then, for an unexplainable reason, she leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before leaning back, cheeks pink. Turning, she ran off shouting, "For saving me!" as an explanation before hightailing it to her dorm.

Natsume just stared back at her fading figure with the biggest blush on his face that he had in years, very thankful that there was no one around to see it before forcing himself to concentrate again by remembering just what he had to do. He could think about it later. The other thing came first.

And so Natsume clenched his fists and began walking in another direction.

It was time to go one of the most difficult things he had ever done.

OoOoO

She sat in his lap inside her two star dorm room and on her bed, twisting to look up at him with large green eyes that so matched her sisters. Her shoulder-length blond hair - she wanted the length to match her Kaori-nee-chan's - was pulled into two little pigtails and she was wearing her elementary school uniform.

"Natsume-nii-san...?" she asked him, breaking the fire caster from his thoughts.

Just how long had he been spacing out anyways?

He cleared his throat.

"Ringo-chan..." he began slowly, unsure of just how to say it. After a split decision he decided to just cut straight to the point and said, "Ringo-chan, Kaori died yesterday. We were on a... mission and so we could complete it, she sacrificed herself."

He watched her face carefully as her expressions shifted from confusion to understanding, horror and then finnally heart wrenching saddness as tears began to pour down her cheeks at an alarming rate.

"W-what?" she wailed through her tears. "W-why? Nee-chan d-d-_died_?"

After that she couldn't speak anymore. Any attempts were just a garbled mess of nonsensical mumbles. And Natsume just held onto the little girl who thought of him as her "cool big brother" and said nothing, because sometimes, it was better to just let them cry.

No words were needed to convey the pain that they both felt right then.

OoOoO

~Three Days Later~

It was Wednesday now and Mikan was walking to class, meanwhile running her fingers over the lotus mark and memorizing the feel. The skin where the - she didn't really want to call it a _tattoo_ - mark was slightly raised which had appeared just minutes after she received it. She had just gotten to the first floor of the girls dorms and about to walk out the front girl when a voice stopped her.

"You!" it ordered in a high, childish voice. "Wait!"

With a blink, Mikan turned to see a little girl no older than seven or eight running towards her. She had jade green eyes and looked like she had been crying, her blond hair messed up and looking like she had just gotten out of bed.

Mikan also noticed that she was not dressed for school like she should be. Actually, the little girl was wearing clothes that one would wear around home or on the weekends. Everything that the little blonde wore was completely black. A black shirt, blouse, shoes and headband that only somewhat tamed her currently messy locks.

Mikan knew who this little girl was.

"Yes?" she asked, and it came out slightly chocked. "Do you need something?"

"Your name is Mikan Sakura, right?"

"Yeah."

"My name is Ringo Fuji and you are the girl who my nee-chan gave up her ife to save!"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I have decided that you are going to spend the day with me. I want to meet the girl who Kaori-nee-chan sa-sacri... uh."

The little girl broke off with a frown.

"Sacrificed?" Mikan offered.

"Whatever," she scowled, "Anyways, I need to see if you were worthy to be saved. Natsume-nii-san says that you are but I'm not so sure."

"Um, Ringo-chan, I have to go to school."

"No you're not! You have to come with me today! You owe me that much!"

Mikan just stared at the little girl before her for a moment, taking in the way that she she stood and how she was shaking slightly. The little green-eyed girl was blinking rapidly and gritting her teeth as she tried to hold back tears. She was trying so hard to be strong, and it pulled at Mikan's heart.

Ringo stiffened when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she blinked and looked to see Mikan hugging her, forcing back tears of her own.

"Wha...?" she mumbled in confusion. "G-get off!"

She tried to break away, because being hugged made Ringo want to cry all over again. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to escape Mikan's warm and achingly familiar arms. Her Nee-chan used to hug her like that.

"Nee-chan..." she whispered, tears spilling over, but she quickly wiped them away.

_'I can't cry anymore,_ she instructed herself. _'Kaori-nee-chan never cried and she wouldn't have wanted me to be sad like this. Defiantly!'_

"I'm not crying," she said out loud. "I'm defiantly not crying," she said again, as she continuously wiped at her eyes. But it was no use, because no matter how much she tried to, nothing could seem stem the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "I-I'm not c-crying!"

"You know," Mikan said softly, leaning away from Ringo to look her in the face, "I lost someone too not that long ago."

Ringo sniffled and looked up. "R-really?" she asked, looking up at the teen with big, sad eyes.

"Yes. He was my grandpa and I loved him very much. When I learned that he died I cried a lot, but unlike you I didn't try to stop because I'm a big baby like that."

Mikan chuckled and noticed with satisfaction that Ringo wasn't crying anymore. Good.

"But even so i had to quit eventually because crying all the time wouldn't fix anything and actually just made me feel worse. So I sucked it up. And then I have another friend. He never cries."

"Never?" Ringo asked.

"Never. When it comes to showing emotions he's completely and utterly lost." Mikan leaned in to whisper in her ear, "He's emotionally constipated, actually."

Ringo giggled.

"But because he never cries, I think that he doesn't feel to good either and that he just needs to let it out. Not that he ever would, but still. I bet you that if he would that he wouldn't be in such a bad mood all the time like he is. He always looks like he just ate something bad because he refuses to even smile unless he's practically forced.

Ringo looked down and gave a small nod.

"So crying is good sometimes?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah. Not too much, but yeah. It's good."

"Okay."

"Are you going to cry now...?"

"No!"

Mikan blinked at the outburst.

"No," she started again. "Because I don't feel sad anymore."

And then Ringo smiled at it was the prettiest, sweetest look that she had ever seen and Mikan found herself smiling in return.

"I've decided that I like you," she informed Mikan, nodding her head up and down. "And that even though I'm really sad that Nee-chan is gone, I understand why she would want to save you. You're nice and even though your kinda weird," Mikan snorted, "I like you anyway."

"Thanks Ringo-chan."

"Yup!"

Ringo then looked down and shifted her feet nervously.

"Ne..."

"Hm?"

"Can I call you Nee-chan?"

Mikan's eyes went wide.

"I-I mean, It's only if you don't mind. If Kaori-nee-chan wanted you to live then you must be _really_ awesome and while you'll never compare to my sister, I'd still like it."

Ringo. From what Mikan had seen thus far she knew this: the eight year old had a pride the size of Mt. Fuji and idolized her big sister and she also had a relativly short temper. But at the same time she was sweet. And very sincere. She would come to like Ringo. She could already tell.

Mikan just giggled at her before answering her question with a smile and one word, "Yes."

From where she was hiding, Hotaru smiled.

"See, baka?" she asked. "I told you that she'd love you. You're too stupid for her to not."

And with that she turned to walk away, taking the long way to get out of the dorm rooms so as to not interrupt the two, smirking at Natsume when she passed him in the hallway.

"This is the _girls_ dorms Hyuuga," she said with a sneer before adding, "And the idiot and the little girl are just fine. In fact, I think that you're going to have a new rival pretty soon over spending time with Mikan because from what I can see, that kid is going to be stuck to her like glue."

"Well, then you will have to deal with that too, Imai," Natsume told her with a smirk.

"Hmph."

Natsume just sighed and shook his head before following Hotaru out the back door.

And guess what?

Mikan did end up spending the rest of the day with her new little sister.

**Nya ha ha that was full of... what's the proper word...? Corn puffs maybe...? Meh. I don't know, but hey: tell me what _you_ think!**

**Thanks for reading and I hoped you liked the chapter!**

**Questions comments, ideas, and criticism are welcome!**

**Well, please please please review! I'm trying to reach my goal of having 150 or more reviews by chapter 10 (is this impossible I wonder?) so please help out! For every review one will receive a reply and a cookie. :D**

**Well, REVIEW PLEASE~!**


	9. Protection

*******Edited: October 23, 2010**

**Beta: chococookie-mallow**

**A/N: Many of you have commented on the fluff of last chapter and, well *shrugs*, what can I say? I was**** in a fluffy mood! XD**

**It is a fact that I hate updating during the week (I have no idea why though) but since FF was being stupid and I couldn't update when I was supposed to, I decided to post anyway =)**

**Oh! And Clarification: This fict is canon, excluding Mikan meeting Yuka-san, so the Hanahime incident and everything else has happened. Mikan just never met her mom before because of what happened with her and Kaori-chan (read chapter 6 for more info)**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 9: Protection**

"Unforgivable!" A voice hissed, cutting through the silence, quickly followed by the sound of someone being hit across the face.

Persona resisted the urge to hold his cheek where he had been hit by the ringed hand of the Elementary school principal, although he couldn't stop himself from forming his face into a pained grimace. He had been both bruised and cut by the sharp jewels on the other's fingers; blood trickled slowly across his pale skin.

Standing on two knees with his leader towering over him, Persona knew that he was in deep trouble. All because he failed.

'I failed.'

"I'm sorry, Master." Persona murmured a string of apologies with a bowed head.

"Hmph," the child sneered and bent over slightly to jerk the DA teachers head up. Eyes that were such a dark blue, they almost looked black glared into submissive obsidian. "You had better be. After all: you owe me. I'm the one who saved you - I kept you even after what you did. Even after you killed your precious Yukihara-sensei. Did I not?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Persona gave a slight jerk of his head in agreement anyway.

He did keep him, Persona knew. He was right. He had to pay him back - Persona owed him.

"I will not fail again."

"Tch."

"Such a disgrace – beaten by an untrained 14 year-old." His eyes were merciless, a glare in his unforgiving eyes.

"You will not fail again."

The boy released Persona with a snarl, pushing him over on the process. But even watching as he slowly sat up, red staining the side of his face, the principal didn't care. He just walked around to the front of his large wooden desk and sat there, one arm propping his head up. Passive eyes watched as Persona slowly stood, his masked features carefully blank.

"Leave." he ordered.

"Yes, Master."

And he left.

OoOoO

On the other end of the school, in the high school division, stood a certain Tsubasa Andou who was currently hugging Mikan so hard that she was turning blue from lack of air.

"You don't know how worried I was! How come you didn't come and see us sooner? And that little Ringo girl is really cute! And-!"

Until a fist came down atop his head.

"You big idiot!" Misaki snapped at the shadow caster, pummelling him into the floor. "She. Can't. Breathe!"

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Tsubasa wailed in fear, lifting his arms over his head in a pathetic attempt to protect himself from his pink haired counterparts' kicks of fury.

To the side of this all, Mikan watched with wide eyes, but did not interfere. She knew it was best to just let it play out-

Crack!

"Mother f-!"

"Language, Andou!"

-despite how terrible it sounded.

"Ne, Onee-chan?" a little girl asked from below, tugging on the skirt of Mikan's uniform.

A smile played on her lips .

"Hmm?"

"How come you're not helping Tsubasa-nii?"

'Tsubasa-nii?'

"Ah..."

She just didn't have a way to answer that and instead just told Ringo not to worry about it, to which she responded, "Oh. Okay!"

Ten minutes later a rumpled looking Tsubasa stood beside a smiling Misaki, a wobbly grin on his face.

"Ah hahaha..." Tsubasa laughed softly, scratching the back of his head. "Well..."

Mikan giggled at the two and grinned down at Ringo.

"It's nice seeing you, sempai, but I really only came for a short visit. I still have to drop Ringo off to her class and then get to mine."

Sighs of disappointment were heard from the two seniors and Mikan frowned guiltily.

"Fine," Tsubasa said finally, "But you'd better come back soon!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Alrighty then - get going. You have... fifteen minutes before class starts and it takes a while to go between departments, so I would hurry."

"F-fifteen?"

"Yeah."

"Oh crap! C'mon Ringo-chan! We've gotta run!" Mikan exclaimed, dashing towards the exit.

"Okay, Nee-chan!" the little girl replied and followed Mikan out the door. "Bye Tsubasa-nii! By Misaki-nee!"

Watching her pigtails disappear out the door, two pairs of eyes blinked owlishly.

"Misaki-nee?" Misaki muttered.

"Tsubasa-nii?" wondered Tsubasa.

"..."

"..."

"That is so cute!" gushed Misaki. "Aw... She called me her big sister!"

"Yeah! I feel kinda sorry for her though. Having a tomboyish sister like you will be tough. Really, It's a good thing that I am her big brother, otherwise- Ah. M-misaki, what are you doing with that bat? Oh. Oh no! I was just kidding! Ow! Ouch! Geeze woman, chill! Gah! Don't hit me there! Watch where your aiming that thing! Misakiiii!"

And Mikan just continued her run to the Elementary division, completely unaware of what her favorite sempai was going through.

"Whew!" Mikan breathed, wiping a hand across her face with a small smile at her surrogate younger sister. They had finally arrived, and both girls were standing at the door of Ringo's classroom. "Well," she stopped to take a deep breath, "we made it on time, ne Ringo-chan?"

An equally - if not more - out of breath eight year old nodded her head with a smile of her own, taking large gulps of air all the while.

"Thanks for dropping me off onee-chan!" she thanked sweetly.

"Sure thing! I have to go now though, okay?"

"Ah. Alright. Bye!"

"Bye," Mikan agreed and then turned to leave once Ringo left.

She walked through the hallways of the elementary school division, watching idly as children ran to class, a few also accompanied by older students as they went.

"Being a kid sure must be nice..." Mikan said wistfully, stepping outside the front doors of the school and onto the stone steps. She had another ten minutes to get to class.

"Probably," a voice drawled from beside her in response to her words and Mikan didn't even flinch, already used to his sudden appearances. "Children usually don't have to deal with the stuff that we do - or at least normal ones don't."

Somehow Mikan knew that the two of them were not included in the normal category.

"Hello Natsume," she smiled.

"Hn."

"So-"

"Hn."

She glared at him.

"Don't interrupt."

"..."

"Thank you. Now-"

"Hn."

Mikan sighed in annoyance before continuing.

"As I was saying _Oh Immature One_, have you figured out what the flower is?" she asked him quietly as they walked together towards the middle school division. It had been almost a week since Mikan had been branded by the mysterious Alice stone and she was growing impatient, worried about what it might do to her. Natsume had said it would be alright, but...

"Yes."

"Oh! Good! So what is it then?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

Mikan's eye twitched as she turned her head towards Natsume.

"Huh?"

Said boy shrugged innocently.

Innocent?

Natsume?

Hah. I didn't know his face could portray such emotion.

"You heard me."

"But-! But why not, Natsume? That's not at all fair and-"

"Chill, Polka," Natsume broke in and Mikan crossed her arms and pouted childishly.

"I'm not going to tell you, but someone else will."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The... man who gave you the stone... he wants to talk to you himself."

"Oh."

"Hn."

"..."

"..."

"...Ne, Natsume?"

"Hm?"

"Who is the person who gave the stone to me?"

Natsume opened his mouth to answer but the closed it quickly. He glanced over at Mikan to pin her with a crimson gaze and told her, "The principal of the High School Division Kazumi Yukihara."

Mikan's eyes went wide.

Principal Yukihara was by far the most well-known of the three principals both for his good looks and stoic demeanour. He was what kept the school running as well as it did and helped find many Alice's with his powers. There were also rumours that he was immortal or something - hadn't aged a day since he was 20, but Mikan wasn't sure that she believed that. Yes, the blue-eyed man was defiantly the most well-known and it was for many reasons.

One of them was that he was an extremely intimidating person.

"What!"

The nullifier half squeaked, half shrieked her words and Natsume winced.

Mikan was so shocked that she missed his eyes flickering to his left and him giving a small nod to the person standing in the shadows of a large tree. The shadowed person made five signs with his hands that only members of the DA knew towards Natsume. He replied with just one before his gaze returned to the girl beside him.

"Polka?"

"Oh, yeah-? Hey! Why'd you stop walking? We don't have that much longer to get to class and if we stop now then-"

"You aren't going to class today, Polka."

Mikan blinked.

"Huh?"

"You are going to go meet Principal Yukihara."

Mikan let out a squeak at the idea.

"W-when?"

"Now."

"Natsume – " Mikan called.

"What is it this time, Polka?"

"Stop calling me Polka." She replied stoically.

"Tsk." Smirked Natsume.

OoOoO

The hesitant sound of her knuckles against his wooden door is what woke Kazumi Yukihara from his daydream and the man took a deep steadying breath before saying, "Come in."

The door opened quietly and was shut with a soft click as a young girl walked into the room looking nervous and gripping the edge of her skirt as she sat down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

It appeared as though his reputation had made its way to his niece's (though she didn't know it) ears.

That would make things more difficult.

"Ah..." Mikan said slowly, uncertainly, and for the first time she looked up to meet Kazumi's eyes. And it was painful.

She looked almost exactly like her mother when she was younger, but still: she had her fathers' nose, his smile, and the colour of Mikan's hair was a mix of Yuka's brown and Izumi's blonde made up of honey brown locks as a base with streaks of gold and subtle stripes of bronze in the mix. The shape of her eyes were Izumi's, his younger brother, as well - only larger and the color was, like her hair, a mix of her mother and fathers creating a pretty hazel. According to the report she also had Izumi's personality.

'Brother, she's just like you,' he thought sadly.

"Principal-san?" asked Mikan slowly, and Kazumi released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in one long gush. "Are you feeling alright?"

Not trusting his voice, the enigma of a principal nodded before working to calm himself down.

Meanwhile, Mikan's comfort level had reached an all-time low as she internally freaked out over the fact that he had been staring at her so long and so strangely. Did she have something on her face? Was her discomfort so clearly showing? Did she look weird or something? Did she smell?

Resisting the urge to sniff herself to check (she didn't need any more of his strange looks) Mikan absentmindedly tugged at her hair in a lame attempt to make it look nicer.

After what seemed like hours, the silence was broken.

Principal Yukihara caught Mikan's eye. "You don't need to look shaken, I don't bite."

This calmed her down, but only a bit.

"You are here to ask about the mark."

The principals' words were a statement instead of a question, but Mikan took it.

"Yes, Principal-san," she replied politely.

"May I see it?"

"Hm? Ah, yes."

She held out her hand for the blond man to see and his blue eyes studied it critically from their place behind the large wooden desk that separated them.

"It turned out well I see," he said more to himself than the girl standing in front of him and Mikan said nothing.

"This just so happens to be a form of protection that was made for you. Just what it protects you from... well, you will figure that out in due time. Due to your lineage and your Alices- yes I know that you have more than one, but we will talk about that later - and what happened not too long ago, I felt this necessary."

"I-I see," Mikan stuttered out, flustered and more than a little bit worried that the principal knew the secret that she had been trying to keep ever since the Hanahime Incident. Natsume was going to kill her.

But then she remembered something.

"Wait... what does my lineage have to do with this?" she questioned, blinking large hazel eyes once as she tried to figure it out.

Mikan's grandfather was no one important nor was he an Alice. None of the relatives that she had met were either except for Aunt Konan, but the only thing that made her stand out was that she owned a somewhat well-known restaurant in Osaka. No matter how Mikan looked at it, her lineage had nothing to do with the need to be protected.

And she voiced her opinions.

"I really don't see how this matters Principal-san. Why-?"

"Well," the blond before her said with a miniscule smile, "I should want to protect my niece, shouldn't I?"

**A/N: And I will just stop here because I am mean. ^^**

**Wanna know how Mikan will react? Wait and see...**

**Oh and: I am making it a goal to get 150+ reviews by chapter 10! So there is this chapter (#9) and the next (#10) to reach that goal. Review count is currently at 110, so I need 20 this time and next time at least to make it. Please help out and drop a review! If we can make it, I will have a surprise for you all~! ;D**

**Thanks for reading**

**Review please!**


	10. Helping the Unlikely

**A/N: So... because I am the genius that I am, I just so happened to break my writing hand. Of course. Typing this chapter was sooo awkward with my right arm in a cast and a sling. -_-''**

**Sorry for the absence of chapter 10 last week and not even posting it on my profile until Tuesday (to those of you who check at least). Uh... yeah. that's pretty much it :D**

**Thanks to my new Beta: chococookie-mallow**

**And on with the show...**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 10: Helping the Unlikely**

Mikan's eyes widened in surprise and Kazumi detected the slightest of tremors run through her body before she tilted her head back... and laughed.

"Hahaha! Ne-niece? pft-! M- haha me? Oh Principal-san, I never knew that you were such a kidder..."

"Mikan, I'm not kidding," he told her seriously, and Mikan went still as her laughter died abruptly, and the atmosphere in the room was tainted with anxiety.

With her head slightly bowed and her hair falling over her face, the high school principal had to duck his head slightly to see her expression. Her eyes were wide and she looked scared, hurt, and angry.

"Why are you mad at me?" he asked her softly.

Mikan mumbled something that he couldn't hear.

"Louder."

"I-I'm not."

"They why do you look like you are?"

It was a legitimate question and both of them knew it but as Mikan looked to the side, bitting her lip with a worried expression, he knew that she would be reluctant to share. But he would make her anyway. Besides - in the end, it would be better to have all of these things out in the open.

"Why Mikan?"

To his slight annoyance she just shook her head rapidly; back and forth without a word. She did not know what to say and how to say it.

The expression his face must have told her that he didn't have the time for her behaviour, because without any prompting, she told him, "I don't know."

Kazumi blinked at this, not quite expecting her answer.

"Do you dislike me?"

Mikan shook her head quickly, eyes wide, not wanting to be mistook for hatred.

'That's good,' he thought with a small smile of relief.

"You don't want me as a part of your family?"

A split second of hesitation. More shakes.

'Ah... better than an outright rejection.' _I will gain her trust,_ he said to himself.

"Are you wondering why I told you now?"

Her total lack of response was all the answer that he needed, and Principal Yukihara stood up and walked out from behind his desk to stand beside at the large window just to his right. Pulling back the maroon curtains, he stared out the window with calm blue eyes before motioning for Mikan to join him. She did, and stood at his left with a look of confusion on her face.

"Gakuen Alice..." he murmured. "This school has been a place for people like us for over 100 years, and I have been the prinicpal of it for a good part of the time. Almost three decades I would say," He stopped to grin slightly at his niece's expression before continuing on, "and yes I am serious. I may not be immortal - yes I have heard the rumours - but i do have the longevity Alice and my life span is thus expanded for many years and I retain my youthful appearance."

Mikan nodded and she took the information in before asking, "But what does that have to do with my question?"

"Well, on the surface, Gakuen Alice seems like a very nice school, no?"

"Everyone calls it the school for the elites."

"And it is in the sense that Alices are superior to regular people but where there is power, there is also corruption."

Mikan had a feeling that she knew where this was going. A masked face with a with flat black eyes hidden behind it flashed before her, a boy that looked no older that ten or eleven standing just behind him with a small, secretive smile on his face.

"The Elementary school principal..." she murmured.

Kazumi gave a slight nod of approval towards her.

"Yes. And he has been trying to get rid of me for many years now, but so far he has failed. Because I have no connections for him to abuse or weak links that he can see, he doesn't have a way to corner me and can never seem to outmanoeuvre my hand no matter how hard he tries. And if he knew that you were my niece... he would use that against me. And you. I... I don't want what happened to the last person I cared about to happen to you."

"The last person...?"

"I had a brother. Your father."

Mikan's heart started beating faster with excitement as she thought of what it meant. Maybe she would finally learn what he looked like...? And her mother too? Maybe she would finally have faces to put to the two people that she had so often dreamed about as a child and even a teen. Maybe, maybe-

"I have a picture," Kazumi told her, blue eyes watching her closely as her reached over to his desk and took a black frame from the right side of it. "It's only of your father though."

He handed it to her.

Mikan forgot to breathe.

"T-tou-san..." she murmured and the brunet felt her throat tighten. She never knew him or would know him, but just seeing his face? It meant more to her than Mikan could ever tell Principal - no, she reminded herself - her uncle. Her Oji-san. He gripped the frame tightly against her body. She looked up to him suddenly, desperate to learn more about her parents. "What's his name? What was he like?" Mikan's curiosity got the better of her, and she forgot to feel anxious.

For the first time in her visit, Kazumi smiled a real smile, pleased with this new development.

"I was hoping you would ask that," he said and his usual icy eyes had turned soft. "His name was Izumi Yukihara. He was my foolish younger brother and... I loved him very much, more than was good for him…" he trailed off.

They continued talking until it was dark out.

OoOoO

Mikan was clutching the picture frame between her fingers very tightly as she walked back to her room. Kazumi Oji-san had offered to walk her back himself - "No, I'll be fine. No buts! Isn't this supposed to be a secret?" - but she finally convinced him to let her walk back on her own. She smiled as she remembered their long talk.

'Next time,' She told herself, 'we'll talk about my mom.' A small smile passed her lips.

Her heart felt very light as she thought of it all she had learned, though it gained a certain weight to it as she thought of his dying. Hearing about her dad's death had been hard, but she was glad to know how he went. She wanted to know because even if it was painful, Mikan needed to know.

She had also discovered a newfound hatred for the ESP and his lackey. And yet... she couldn't stop remembering her uncle describing Persona and her father's student-mentor relationship. When he talked about it, it had sounded like it was an accident on the DA teacher's part, but when she had asked Kazumi told her that it was a cover up. It had to be.

"But what if it wasn't?" she whispered to the air, standing just outside the girls dorms under a street light.

"If it wasn't what?" a bitter voice hissed from the darkness and Mikan jumped to see who it was.

A tall, darkly dressed figure stood in the many shadows of the night, almost completely obscured by the darkness.

"Persona!" Mikan snarled at him, angry. But the anger felt misplaced. Which was a mistake, she thought, because he killed her dad. She knew that.

But then the wielder of the death Alice stepped into the light and Mikan noticed the large bruise on his cheek and the uneven cut that went along with it. The freshly cracked scab on his lip had begun to bleed as he sneered at her and a small trickle began working its way down his face.

"Oh!"

He snorted at her.

"You saw it then?"

Mikan didn't answer.

"This is your fault you know. If you had just come with me like a good little girl, then none of this would happen and I would be on Masters good side. But then you escaped and even got Hyuuga to help you, him and his stupid Alice stone. And then I was punished… for failure to a little girl." He said the last line slowly, as if not wanting her to miss a word.

He studied her.

"Gone quiet, have we?" he called across the two meters that divided them. "Well it doesn't change anything. I still failed. I owe master and I still failed him. He kept me. He kept me..."

Mikan didn't think that he was talking to her anymore as a barely detectable note of hysteria and sorrow crept into his voice. Slowly tucking the picture of her father into the large inner pocket of her uniforms jacket she looked at him more closely; he didn't seem to be completely stable, swaying slightly from one side to another as her was. He looked paler than usual as well under the street lamps light. His breath came out slightly uneven. If she hadn't been paying attention, she never would have noticed, but...

"You're sick," she said suddenly.

"Idiot girl! Don't make assumptions!" he snapped at her and if it weren't for the way that he'd stumbled as he shouted at her Mikan might have actually believed him.

But he did, and her body moving of its own accord, and, in the most arguably stupid and reckless thing she had ever done, Mikan caught him and helped steady him, hissing at the heat the she felt coming off in waves even through his clothes.

"Don't touch me," he told her, but it didn't come off nearly as commanding as she supposed that he wanted it to be as he tried to shove her away. If he had been any stronger, she reflected later, she probably wouldn't have been able to keep her grip as well as she did, but he was sick and he was weak.

"No," she told him firmly, pressing a hand to his forehead and her eyes widened in alarm at the heat. "You're too sick. You can't be walking around alone like this - you need to go to the hospital right-!"

No! No. I can't," he protested immediately and he tried to get away from her again. "I will not show that sort of weakness. I don't need any help from those useless people. I could kill them in an instant, you see? I could kill you!"

"No you couldn't," Mikan retorted with strange confidence, "because I have nullification and no matter what you do, my Alice will nullify yours and I will be just fine. I'm not as weak as I was when I was ten. My Alice has grown strong Persona: your Alice isn't dangerous to me. I'm not in danger."

He was silent for a moment and Mikan realized that he was probably too tired to respond. Or perhaps, he knew he was defeated.

"Persona..." she said slowly, realization slowly coming to her, "you have the fourth Alice type don't you? You're just like Natsume. How long has this been going on?"

Maybe it was because he was so delirious or maybe it was because he finally just wanted someone to lean on (and Mikan was obviously volunteering) that he responded to her. His body relaxed and Mikan supported his weight.

"It's been years now. It comes and goes randomly. I... I can't predict them. But this afternoon, after the meeting with master..."

"... you started to feel sick," Mikan finished for him.

He didn't respond, but Mikan didn't need him to.

She was an idiot, she knew, for what she was about to do. No one in their right mind should even be considering what she was when he had tried to hurt her so many times... but Mikan never was completely sane, was she?

"You're coming with me."

**A/N: I have a feeling that this chapter will get a variety of reactions from it and I'm actually quite interested to see what they will be ;D**

**Oh! And because I am random: a preview of the next chapter.**

_"You _idiot_!" he snarled, crimson eyes flashing. "He could have hurt you!"_

_Mikan didn't back down._

_"Maybe so, but he needed me! He wouldn't go to the hospital on his own and if I had left him there he might have died, Natsume. I think that he's even worse off than _you_."_

_"Then let him die!"_

_"_Natsume_!"_

_"I'd rather it be him than you, because-"_

_"Because...?"_

_"Mikan, I..."_

**And we shall end the preview there. ^^**

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**Review Please!**


	11. Idiot Part 1

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updating (I know I fail) but lookie! A chapter that's over 4k!**

*****I have started a new story by the way for those of you who did not know. It's called _Change._**

**Also: There is a poll that I have opened that may effect this story and will most certainly effect future ones. You can vote for up to 3 choices. *****

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 11: Idiot Part 1**

Mikan panted heavily and collapsed on the bed beside a barely conscious Persona with a small groan.

At first, the man had been able to walk by his own power, albeit he needed Mikan to help keep him standing straight every now and then, but eventually the fever became so bad that he could barely walk at all and Mikan ended up one fourth assisting and three fourths dragging the DA teacher to her room. And Persona was heavy.

Very heavy.

And muscular.

"Stupid muscle," she muttered, exhausted. "Why couldn't he just be thin? Why does he have to be freaking ripped? Muscle weighs more than fat, dammit, and he's already a foot taller than me!"

Mikan forced herself to roll off of the bed and walk to her kitchen as she continued mumbling.

"That man is just as bad as Natsume - both of them get sick, can't move, and then I end up dragging their sorry butts to my dorm to get treated because of course they're too stubborn to go to the hospital... Stupid, stupid, dangerous ability people..."

She shook her head to clear her thoughts as she put on a teapot to boil and grabbed an ice pack from her freezer.

Now wasn't the time to be complaining.

Mikan bit her lip as she walked back into her room: Persona had turned onto his side and curled in on himself as he clenched his teeth in pain as he coughed continuously. The coughs had started not too long after Mikan decided to help him and it was painful to watch. It was pathetic. And Mikan was sure that when this was all over Persona would never forgive her if she told anyone of this weakness. She walked over to him and glanced over him with worried eyes before going into doctor mode.

"Turn onto your back," she commanded him and when he showed the slightest amount of resistance Mikan grabbed his arm and pulled him over forcibly before placing the much needed pack of ice on his forehead. "Don't move and don't knock the ice pack off - you need that, okay? I'm estimating a temperature of 102 or 103 but I can't be sure until I use a thermometer. Brusquely, she continued. I'm making you some lemon ginger tea right now. It will make you feel better. Now how many of the AT-4 suppressant pills do you normally take?"

Through bleary eyes, Persona watched the young girl before him ask questions and treat him with practiced ease; unlacing and removing his boots, tugging off his jacket, and situating a pillow underneath his head while covering him with a blanket and making sure not to move the ice pack that she had placed on his forehead. How many times had she done this?

"... Six," he answered her finally and Mikan's eyes flashed with an emotion that Persona could not describe but hated anyway. It was close to pity and pity was the last thing he wanted from her.

Come to think of it... why was he allowing her to help him in the first place?

He didn't know.

_'Maybe it's because you want someone to care?'_ a small part of him thought.

_'Or are you tired of all this you do to keep everyone in fear?'_ He wondered

Ridiculous. He dismissed the thought.

She nodded and dashed through a door, into some room and reemerged moments later with an all too familiar bottle of pills that was filled half way with little red and white capsules. It was the medicine that had been developed to help slow and lessen the effects of the fourth Alice type. Each had AT-4 printed on them in black, edible ink. Opening the bottle, she shook out the needed amount and then opened a bottle of water he hadn't realized she had gotten until just then.

"Sit up and hold the ice pack on with one hand."

He sat up.

_'What am I doing?_' he asked himself.

"Take these right now with this water - no buts. I'll answer your questions later-"

"How - ?"

"- I said later. Good."

She dealt with him quickly and efficiently Persona noticed as he swallowed the suppressant with a large gulp of water. His chest hurt and Persona coughed loudly once he finished taking the medicine. Mikan took back the bottle.

"Now lay down."

He complied with a loud sigh that quickly turned into a racking cough that tore at his chest and throat. Unfortunately, something like cough syrup would not stop the coughing caused by the fourth Alice type and Persona knew that he would just have to deal with it and wait for the medicine to take effect and the attack to end. But Mikan, off course, had a solution to this too and ran back to the kitchen; this time bringing four green pills in her hand.

_'Why aren't I resisting at all?'_ he wondered.

"It's pain medicine," she explained to him, either not noticing or ignoring his conflicted expression. "It won't stop the coughs of course but it... it helps dull the pain."

She handed him water and once again Persona took medicine.

_'Why does she care?'_ He asked himself.

"Since you're coughing so bad," she carried on, "I'm going to add some more pillows and prop you up a little. The elevation will make breathing easier and you won't cough as much."

Obsidian eyes just watched her blankly, unsure of how to react in this moment.

"Now, I'm going to go find the thermometer-" from the kitchen they both heard the teapot begin to whistle loudly and Mikan blinked, "-and bring you your tea, so when I say to stay, I mean it. If you're anything like Natsume, if I leave the room for too long you'll be up and about and I can't have that, got it?"

Persona just stared at her from behind his mask and finally realizing that he was still wearing it, Mikan plucked the white thing off of his face and smiled at his annoyed expression.

"What was that -_cough cough_- for?" he asked with small growl.

She just shrugged in return and told him, "That silly mask gets in the way and you don't need it anyway. Which makes me wonder why you wear it in the first place? You're really handsome - if you would just show your face in public even once you would probably have a fan club by the next day!"

_["You're a disgusting thing..." the ESP sneered at the boy before him, head down and shivering in fear._

_"Raise you head!"_

_Persona did. "Take this-" he threw a white object to him and shaking fingers picked it up from the floor. Persona ran his fingers over the white, porcelain half mask that would become part of his signature look in the future silently._

_"Wear that so it covers your ugly face."_

_For the first time since he had called him there, Persona spoke._

_"Yes, master."]_

He made a face at that and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "idiot girl", but Mikan didn't comment, probably since she heard it all the time, and set the mask on her dresser as she went to the kitchen.

Alone, Persona snorted and shook his head. From the kitchen a small crash and an "aw, dang it!" was heard.

"She really..." he said slowly, "is a stupid girl."

On the other side of the wall, moping up a pool of spilt lemon ginger tea, Mikan smiled softly.

OoOoO

Mikan watched his chest rise and fall evenly. Persona had just fallen asleep and it was nearing three in the morning but Mikan found that she didn't particularly care. She had taken care of Natsume so many times already that she was used to it.

"Good." she whispered with a small smile. "He looks like he feels better."

As she closed the door, Mikan didn't notice the soft white glow fade from the mark on her hand.

OoOoO

The next morning, Persona woke up to a hand on his forehead and he sat up quickly, shooting a hand towards the intruder with a vicious snarl.

"Whoa! Stop! Stop! It's just me!" a girl's voice cried and as though he had been doused in ice cold water, Persona became lucid immediately and sleeps' fog was swept away. Persona's entire body froze and he blinked in confusion, taking in his surroundings.

This... was not his room.

Where were the white walls and dark carpets? Why was everything the dreaded color pink with sakura blossoms patterning it all?

Suddenly, he remembered being taken in and cared for by the foolish little Mikan Sakura he had tried so hard to capture and he looked up to see his fist mere inches away from the girls face. He dropped his arm immediately.

"Dear Kami..." she said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Uptight much?"

Persona just stared at the girl in bewilderment, watching her shake her head and sigh before shoving a tray full of breakfast food at him.

"Here," she told him with a small smile, "Breakfast."

_'Obviously,_' he thought with a sneer but his thoughts slowly trailed off as he looked at the dishes before him.

"Okay, so you have a french omelet with ham cheese, onions, and tomatoes with it and bacon on the side." She pointed out everything rather unnecessarily. "In that bowl is some oatmeal and I also cut up some strawberries and pineapple for you. I also made some fresh orange juice to go with it all and in the mug is coffee, if you want it. That paper cup there has some more pain medicine and two AT-4 pills in it just in case."

He didn't say anything even after she finished talking and just stared at the tray in his lap.

"Is there something wrong?" Mikan asked with a frown. "That's pretty much what I give Natsume whenever he's sick and even if he won't admit it, I know that he thinks it's good. Do you not like this kind of food? I can make something else..."

Persona just shook his head and picked up the shiny silver fork on the right side of the tray. He cut into the omelet and watched blankly as steam rose in curls from the food. He then ate it and was amazed to find that the omelet was goo- ... edible. He tested the rest of the food and was almost just a little bit envious of the fact that the Hyuuga was treated to this kind of care and food every time he came back from a mission or wasn't feeling well. Almost. He had always wondered why he would go to her, and now he supposed that he knew the answer.

Persona stop chewing for a moment as a thought occurred to him.

Shouldn't he be insulting her or scaring her right about now? Not sitting in her bed eating food that she had made for him.

But for some reason he just couldn't find it in himself to be mean to her, despite what he wanted. Not at the moment anyway. So, he just sat there and ate, saying nothing at all because he didn't know what to say and apparently, judging by the growing grin on the brunet's face, the fact that he was eating at all was good enough for her.

_'Am I getting soft?'_ he wondered in disgust.

When he was done he held out the tray to her and she simply beamed as she took it from him and walked to the kitchen to put the dishes in the sink. Watching her small form disappear through the door, Persona shook the covers off of himself and stood up as he began looking for his things.

He looked on the floor and in the corners of the room, under the bed and was about to look through her closet before a voice told him "Your things are at the front door."

Persona turned to see Mikan standing there and narrowed his eyes. He hadn't sensed her until she spoke... he must still be off of his game, the thought in annoyance.

"Tch."

The teen just shook her head at him as he brushed past her and walked out of her room for the first time since he had been brought here.

Now that he was actually lucid enough to notice, he studied her home. Her dorm was moderately large, Persona decided and rather well furnished. It had nothing on a special star room, but it was nothing to laugh at with its high ceilings, wooden floors and expensive light fixtures that had been placed all around the dorm in a way that would spread light out evenly and everywhere. He got lost only one time, Mikan pointing him in the right direction when he did so, before the front door was found and he saw his boots sitting in the entrance, his coat hung up on a rack though his mask was not to be seen anywhere.

_["Don't ever let me see you without this mask, Persona..." the ESP told him with that deceptively childish smile of his. "Never."]_

"Where is it?"

It was the first full sentence that he had said all day and his voice was still horse from all the coughing so his growling tone didn't come out near as frightening as he'd hoped it would. Damn.

"Mm... the mask?" Mikan said slowly. "Why's is matter?"

"I need it, stupid girl."

"What for?"

"I always wear it."

"Why is that, Persona-chi?"

Persona swore that his eye twitched just then.

"Persona-_chi_?" he hissed at her.

"Well, I have to call you something and Persona is just too boring, so... Persona-chi!"

"Do you honestly think that just because you were stupid enough to help me and I was too weak to resist, that I would deal with this crap?" He spat.

Mikan shrugged and with a growl, he grabbed the girl's wrists and pinned her to the door. There was a faint flash of light that came from Mikan's hand when his skin made contact with hers but he chose to ignore it, dismissing it as a trick of the light.

"I will not." he answered his own question, hissing in her ear. "Now, where the hell is my mask? It's none of your damn business why I choose to wear it, idiot girl."

"Well," Mikan mused and Persona wondered where the fear she had displayed just the other day when he had been chasing her had gone. Where on earth had this confidence come from? "You're certainly feeling better. I'm glad," she informed him with a smile.

Persona stared in shock deciding that she had gone mad.

Just then the tapping sound of feet running across wooden floor was heard approaching rapidly and Persona saw the glow of fire reflected in Mikan's eyes. He barely got out of the way on time.

"Get away from her!" Natsume snarled, hurling a ball of wild flames at him.

Persona leapt out of the way, only momentarily concer- _curious_ as to whether or not the girl would get out of the way before the flames hit her. The flames were nullified before they got within a foot's proximity of her.

It was his moment of distraction with the teen that left him wide open and a strong punch connected with the side of Persona's head, whipping his face to the side and sending him reeling backwards. Stunned, he stood there for a moment as Natsume breathed heavily and watched his every motion with sharp, crimson eyes. Slowly, Persona turned his head to look at his student, holding his chin and grinning slightly. Blood dribbled out from the corner of his mouth from a new cut on the inside of his cheek.

_'Was he this concerned about her?'_ this thought ran through his mind, and he vaguely heard Mikan's angry and concerned shout.

"Stop it now!"

Natsume ignored her straight up, though Persona couldn't help but glance over to Mikan when she gave the command, feeling strangely compelled to stand down and listen to the little brunets words.

"Why the hell are you here?" Natsume asked in a dangerous voice.

"Why? Heh." Persona snorted. "Why don't you ask the girl if you want to know?"

"_Tell. Me_."

"She brought me here, you fool."

"Liar! Tell me the-"

"He's not lying!" Mikan interrupted him with a shout. "Persona didn't do anything wrong at all. I just made him angry and so he reacted. He wanted his mask and I wouldn't give it back to him, okay? No harm was done, Natsume. Calm down."

"Calm down?" Natsume sputtered in disbelief. "_Calm down_?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes! Ugh! Persona, come! Now!"

Never in his life had Serio Persona even considered the possibilitly of being ordered around by a girl half his size and strength but here and now he was and he most certainly didn't like it. And yet...

"No, stupid girl."

Why did he start towards her the moment that the order left her lips?

"Well so-rry. Do you not want your mask? If you do, then do as I say."

Persona growled and walked over to her (he ignored the strange sense of relief that came with obeying her command), only to stop when a wall of flame erupted between him and the girl.

But then it was nullified and Mikan took the last three steps and handed the white mask that had caused so much trouble to him.

"_Go now._" Mikan mouthed to him and the now masked DA teacher grunted before turning away.

"I have what I need," he growled at Natsume. "So now I will leave. Do not try and stop me."

And Persona simply walked out the front door.

Natsume did not go after him and instead looked at Mikan with incredulous eyes, panting heavily. Mikan stared back at him with a face that clearly pleaded from him to understand.

"Natsume..." she began.

"Don't."

"I-"

"Just... Mikan... not now. I don't want to hear it."

"But you need to!"

"Need to hear what? That you helped the man who tried to capture and maybe even kill you? That murdered Kaori? I wonder what Ringo would think if she knew that you defended the man that took away her nee-chan! You... you idiot!"

She flinched at the accusation and her eyes quickly filled with both hurt and angry tears but Mikan didn't back down.

"So what? Maybe I am an idiot- you always call me one! Maybe so, but he needed me! He wouldn't go to the hospital on his own and if I had left him there he might have died Natsume. He has the fourth Alice type and I... I think he might be even worse off than you."

"He might have died you say? Well let him die!"

Mikan's eyes went wide in shock.

"_Natsume!_"

"I'd rather it be him than you, because-" he broke off then, his crimson eyes gaining an odd light to them and he looked away.

"Because...?" Mikan prompted him.

"Mikan, I..." he broke off again and punched the wall in front of him. "Just- I... Damn it Mikan, never mind!"

"No! No Natsume tell me, please? Please, Natsume."

A strangled look crossed his face then and he slumped against the wall, shaking his head slowly.

Mikan stared at him in worry, biting her lip.

"Natsume...?" she prompted.

No response.

She walked towards him slowly, confused and concerned. Natsume just kept his eyes down, his bangs falling into his face and hiding his crimson irises from her. Two feet away now, she reached up a hand slowly to brush his raven locks back, her hand resting on his cheek once his messy hair had been moved out of the way.

He leaned into the touch and Mikan felt a slight tremor run through his body.

"You scared me today, stupid," he muttered softly and Mikan looked away in shame.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Natsume chuckled.

"I know."

The two stared at each other for a moment, hazel clashing with crimson as they tried to read one another.

As usual, Mikan was an open book: Natsume knew at first glance that she was feeling guilty and that she was tired and was worried about him - wanted to know what was the matter. Why he was so silent. Why he wouldn't tell her what was wrong.

And Natsume... he was mysterious and closed as always with calm features. But Mikan could tell from the slight tightening of his jaw and intensity of his eyes that he really was worried for her today and that just made her feel even worse. Add the fact that she didn't regret what she did and she was simply flooding with the emotion.

Tears gathered in her eyes.

"I-I'm really s-sorry Natsume," she told him in broken words. "But I... I h-had to help. Not helping Persona..."

_Would be like abandoning you._

She didn't say the words but both Natsume and Mikan knew that that is what she felt.

Natsume was caught between scowling and smiling and ended up with an odd half frown, half grin that only he could ever pull off without looking stupid.

"You're such an idiot sometimes, Polka. But I've known that for a while now."

_I'm glad you're okay._

"Shut up, jerk. And you scorched my floors with your dumb fire."

_Yeah._

"Hn."

Mikan laughed a little and hugged Natsume. The fire-caster went stiff in surprise for a moment before relaxing and, almost hesitantly, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist.

"Ne, Natsume?" Mikan asked, her voice muffled against his chest.

"Hmm?" he murmured into her hair.

"Just so you know..."

"You're going to go do something stupid the moment I leave?"

"..."

"..."

"Yeah."

Natsume pulled back slightly to look at her, incredulous. Mikan shrugged helplessly in response. What could she say? No matter how angry Natsume got at her, Mikan would not stop.

And Natsume knew that and that's what made it so damn frustrating.

"It involved Persona?"

"Yup."

"Are you going to confront him directly?"

"Maybe..."

Natsume clenched his fists, trying not to blow up at her; it would do so much more harm than good he knew.

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

"Nothing I say will stop you, will it?"

"Uh.. no. Probably not."

Natsume thought that it was much too early in the morning for her to be causing him so much worry and trouble in general.

"..."

"..."

"Take my Alice stone with you," he said finally.

"'Kay."

"And your cell phone."

"Yes, sir."

"Bring all of your defensive Alice stones, actually."

"... Alright."

"Tell me when you are going to leave."

"..."

"And where you're going to find him."

"..."

"Better yet, just take me with you."

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"I-"

"No."

"..."

"..."

"Then-"

"Natsume?"

"What?"

Mikan gave him a look.

"Shut up."

"... Hn."

**A/N: Because a normal guy worrying over you would be annoying. But because it's Natsume? It's just adorable =D**

**Thanks to everyone for all of the great reviews! I wrote a super long chapter as a thanks.**

**Review!**


	12. Idiot Part 2

**A/N: I decided that it was time to see how Kaori-chan is doing so this chapter does have a (short) part with her in it, for those of you who were wondering about her ^^**

**WARNING: Not Beta'd! I sent this a while ago but it hasn't come back yet and I got tired of waiting, so... I'll post the Beta'd chapter when I get it. It has not been proof-read, so forgive the inevitable stupid mistakes that you will encounter :D**

**Rated T:** for slight language

**Summary: **"I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

**Chapter 12: Idiot Part 2**

"Ittekimasu..." Mikan called softly to Natsume who was sitting on her couch in her living room, flipping through TV channels as he did so.

The fire-caster was determined to stay in her dorm to make sure that Mikan got home safe and also it would her "safe place" to run to if she needed to. Of course, the reason that it would be so safe was that Natsume would be there. He had his cell phone tucked in his pocket so if she needed him he could answer right away and had his favorite dagger on the coffee table in front of him. Just incase he ended up needing it. (And with Persona, it was very likely that he would.) He blinked and looked up at her voice.

Giving her a once over, Natsume saw that Mikan was dressed in a simple black skirt and leggings with a white tank-top and a red jacket over it. On her right hand was a simple, black, fingerless glove that had been given to her by Natsume to cover the lotus on her hand, much to the confusion of Mikan - ("Why the heck do I need something like this?" "Hn. The Principal told me to give it to you. Just put it on, Polka.") - and tennishoes on her feet. Her hair had been put up into a long ponytail.

"Iterashai," Natsume replied with a small frown. "Be careful."

Mikan smiled and held up a vivid red alice stone that was attached to a golden chain.

"Hn."

And with that simple exchange, Mikan walked out the front door and once the door had shut, Natsume immediately got up to watch her progress through the window; her small form was moving down the sidewalk, towards the training grounds exclusive to the DA that resided in the Northern Forest of the Academy. Training ground number 13, to be specific ("The stereotypical _bastard,_" Natsume had sneered when he told Mikan).

Watching her form get smaller and smaller, Natsume couldn't help but feel more than a little apprehensive. After all, she _was_ walking voluntarily into the most dangerous forest in Gakuen Alice and towards the _most dangerous_ man in the school. So no, his fear was not because she was hopeless. She did have nullification, his Alice stone, and a damn mean right hook, but, well, this was _Persona_: the teacher of the Dangerous Ability students; the star of many peoples nightmares and a murderer. The guy frightened children for a living and sent them off on life-threatening missions without a second thought. Hell, Natsume wouldn't be surprised if the man kicked puppies for fun. And ate babies.

He blinked at the image.

When he saw her disappear into the line of trees, he weighed the pros and cons of following the teen. He thought back to her threat.

_["Natsume Hyuuga, I swear to Kami that if you follow me even though I specifically told you _not_ to, I will kick your ass from here to next _year_ so hard that your great-great-grandchildren will feel it!"]_

Natsume swallowed and grimaced, having no doubt in his mind that the hazel-eyed teen would carry out her threat. He resisted the urge to let his hands creep towards his rear protectively.

"Crazy woman..." he muttered to himself, thinking back to the way she had taken the collar of his shirt and yanked him down to her level as she glared at him and spoke. "She has the worst temper I've ever seen. Tch."

With a small sigh, he took out his phone from his pockets and stared at she shiny black screen with thoughtful eyes as he thought back to the rest of their conversation.

_["But don't worry," she released his collar and smiled sweetly at Natsume and he couldn't help but think that the extremities of her mood-swings were... extreme. And down right scary. "If I do need you, I will call for sure."_

_She flashed her cell at him then, the charm on it - a small black cat with ruby eyes that Natsume had rolled his eyes at when she initially showed it to him - swinging back and fourth._

_"You promise?" he asked gruffly._

_"Of course! After all, if it's Natsume, no one can protect me better, ne?"_

_He just hoped that her faith wasn't misplaced.]_

With a final glance out the window, Natsume walked over to Mikan's couch and plopped onto it. His crimson gaze turned to the screen where a spiky haired, blond boy was currently being shown wearing a garishly orange jumpsuit and jumping from tree to tree like some sort of monkey on a sugar-high. Natsume watched without really seeing.

OoOoO

Mikan had been walking for about twenty-five minutes when she finally came across training ground thirteen. She had only gotten hopelessly lost twice, both times getting set back on the proper path by and irate Mr. Bear and then her friend Nobara who, after hearing Mikan's full story and telling her to be very very _very_ careful - Mikan had cut her off at the third "very" - she told Mikan where to go an actually escorted her there, stopping and giving a reluctant goodbye when it came into sight.

And now Mikan was watching Persona train from the edge of the clearing as he sliced up training dummies with a long, deadly looking sword - a wakizashi perhaps? - with such grace and smooth motions that Mikan felt as though she was watching a dance, rather than a combination of movements designed to takedown/kill/maim a person. With a wide arc he sliced of the head of one dummy only to pirouette and stab another one nearby. He moved across the ground with light feet and complicated footwork; slicing, stabbing, and flipping.

_'I didn't know he was a sword master!" _Mikan thought in amazement.

When the dance was over, Persona was panting harshly Mikan frowned in disappointment at its end.

"That was beautiful," she remarked softly, stepping into the grounds and looking around herself with something akin to awe before settling her eyes on the man before her. "Will you do it again?"

Persona jerked in surprise when he heard her voice before becoming defensive.

_'How does she keep on catching me off guard like this?'_ he wondered angrily and stabbed his wakizashi into the ground.

"Why are you here girl?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

Mikan started walking towards the DA teacher where he stood in the center of all the destruction he'd caused, barely pausing as she stepped over the wide gashes in the ground where apparently the sword and met the earth and the detached limbs of the straw dummies that had been whole just minutes before. She stopped six feet away, a space she knew he could clear in an instant but kept anyway.

"I have a proposition for you," Mikan said simply.

Persona snorted at her.

"Oh really?" he sneered.

Mikan nodded.

"Tell me, what could you possibly have that someone like me would want?"

"Care," she replied with a small smile. "Someone to pick you up and help your sorry butt when the effects of the fourth Alice get to you."

The ebony haired man stared at Mikan with surprise though he didn't show it on his face.

"And in return...?" he asked cautiously.

It didn't hurt to hear the full deal, he thought to himself.

Thought he wouldn't take it. Definitely not.

He just wanted to... see what sort of pathetic thing she had in mind for a trade.

Mikan smiled hugely.

"Teach me to fight!"

This time, his complete and utter astonishment did show and his mouth fell open slightly. Either Mikan didn't notice or simply did not care, but she continued on.

"Yes! I'm not very good when it comes to fighting and you never know what could happen so if I could at least know some moves, then that would be really nice. Then maybe Natsume won't have to spend so much of his time looking after me like he always does as well! I mean..." her tone turned slightly somber, "this morning, when the two of you were fighting that is, all that I could do was stand and watch. I was so useless... and I hated that."

Persona snorted at her.

"No."

And then he began to walk away. Seeing this, Mikan's eyes went wide and she began to trot after him. She attempted to capture the tail of his shirt and tug him to a halt but the moment her hand got within a foot of the man, he spun to catch her hand, sword magically appearing in hand and pointed between her eyes.

Mikan swallowed and tried to steady her rapidly beating heart.

"Ano..." she began slowly and raised at hand to gently push away the blade from her face, "I dunno about you, but I'm _pretty_ sure that killing and/or maiming any part of the student body is, well, _totally not allowed_."

"Tch."

Persona growled at her, but lowered his blade and released her wrist.

A timid voice spoke out.

"Persona-san?"

His eyes went wide.

_'San?'_ he wondered.

"What happened to Persona-chi?" he questioned.

Mikan smiled slightly and looked away.

"You... you didn't really seem to like that name at all," she laughed then and he rolled his eyes, "So... I thought Persona-san might be better."

"..."

To Persona, having his name be Persona-san was so much better than - he grimaced slightly - Persona-_chi_. But. Something about the girl being so... uncharacteristically formal was... unsettling to him. And, about her proposition, would it really be so terrible to teach her? He pondered this for a moment and later he would question why he would even consider something like that for a moment when he would normally just sneer and brush them off without a thought. He would then realize that he did a lot of things that he normally would not for and around her without any explanation. He would ponder the phenomenon for a while more before simply shrugging it off. The next time it happened, Persona would think of the situation again and the cycle would repeat.

But at the moment...

_'No. It wouldn't be.'_

A poke to his cheek broke him out of his thoughts and Persona glared at Mikan in surprise.

"Hey!" she defended immediately, somehow able to tell that he was currently glaring the heck out of her (or maybe he was just that predictable?), "I called your name... three times and you didn't answer! I thought that maybe something was wrong. Or you fell asleep while standing up or something-" It was at that moment that Persona realized what an idiot she truly was. "Jii-chan did that all the time and you can never really tell with that mask on your face, Persona-san, so-"

"Persona," he broken in simply and large hazel eyes looked up at him with confusion. "Call me Persona and _only_ Persona. None of that -_chi_ shit. It is that, or sensei. When I'm training you, you will refer to me as sensei only though, understand?"

He watched with a small amount of amusement as a grin slowly began to grow on her face as he spoke and my the end of it, Mikan's smile was so large it was a wonder that it didn't split her face in two.

"Yes! Thank you!" she exclaimed happily and made a move to hug him, but Persona's hand shot out immediately and planted itself on her forehead, effectively stopping the ecstatic hug.

"No hugging."

"But-!"

"No. Hugging."

"Never?"

"Never."

"..."

"..."

"_Never_ never...?"

"Never never."

"Aw..." she huffed and looked extremely put out. "Well, when does training start, anyway?"

Persona studied her for a moment, taking in the movability of her clothes and the kind of shoes that she was wearing. She could work in that. For today, anyway.

"If you remove that jacket, we can start now," he said finally.

Mikan's responding smile was even bigger than the previous.

OoOoO

"Meet me here every morning at 5 a.m. unless I tell you otherwise and whether there is afternoon practice or not will depend on my schedule." Persona spared a glance to the brunet who was currently laying in the grass, red-faced and out of breath. Sweat poured down her face as she tried to cool off and Persona, though he would never admit it, thought that Mikan had done a good job for her first day. She was most certainly determined. "And... go home and take a shower. You need it."

Mikan shot him a tired glare at this but nodded at got up anyway.

"I am going to be _so_ sore tomorrow morning," she mumbled to herself, thinking of all of the running and pushups and exercises she had done that day because apparently she needed muscle mass before he would even begin to teach her to hit someone.

Grabbing her jacket off of a boulder, the only clean part of her attire now, Mikan shrugged it on and wiped her face roughly with the sleeve, grimacing at the way that the fabric came back wet from her face.

_'Kami, I must smell.' _she thought with a frown.

She turned to Persona and gave him a small bow.

"Thank you, sensei."

He nodded slightly in return and then the two parted ways and Persona went off to who-knows-where and Mikan back to her dorm.

Noticing that it was beginning to get dark out, Mikan ran back, despite how tired she was feeling, deciding it was better to be out of breath and home that get lost in the dark.

She was just stepping out of the thick of the forest when She saw a figure running towards her, raven hair even more disheveled than normal and cat mask in place.

"Natsume?" she asked in confusion.

The teen reached her within moments and practically tackled her into a hug. He was breathing harshly and Mikan was so shocked that all she could do for a moment was stare.

"Dammit Mikan...!" Natsume hissed in her ear and his grip on her tightened. "You scared the shit out of me."

"W-what? Natsume, what happened?" she asked, watching at people ran back and fourth around the campus, teachers and agents of the Dangerous Abilities class alike. "What's going on?"

"Z."

The word was hissed and Mikan knew that this "Z" was a bad thing, but she didn't know why.

"What do you mean?"

"Z broke into the school and took someone hostage. We don't know if anyone else was taken yet, but..."

Mikan felt cold all of the sudden.

"W-who was t-taken, Natsume?"

Natsume's silence told her everything.

OoOoO

OoOoO

Violet eyes fluttered open and immediately squeezed back shut, the fluorescent lights of the room causing his pupils to dilate painfully. His mind was sluggish, his tongue thick in his mouth; the effect of what only could be sedatives.

After a few moments, the person tried to open his eyes again and slowly, two forms began to make themselves clear in the white light of the room. Slowly, he glanced around the room, taking in the concrete floor and walls. The steel door to the left and the chair that the person currently found himself attached to by metal bonds.

His wrists ached dully and he saw burns running across them from the rope he had been tied up with before now. Blood, both dried and fresh, caked his face, stemming from the would he had sustained in his struggle to not be captured earlier. It matted his hair to his face and stained it red. He constantly had to blink in order to keep the blood from trickling into his left eye and in the end, settled for closing his left eye and seeing with only his right.

He looked back to the figures in the room and slowly he began to register who they were as the drugs flushed themselves from his system and his mind became clearer.

They were both woman. He couldn't make out their features, as they were shrouded in darkness at the back of the room, but he could see the basics. One taller than the other and obviously older. The shorter one had blond hair and cold jade eyes, the other a brunet with impassive, emerald green eyes. Both wore similar black uniforms with the only difference being a silver rose stitched into the fabric over the breast pocket of the older woman's uniform. He assumed that it identified rank.

The older woman stepped into the light, and the features that had been previously covered in shadow and made unidentifiable were now brought to light.

He knew this woman and he could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat in that one moment.

Pain stabbed through his chest.

"Sempai," he whispered brokenly, disbelieving.

"Hello, Narumi."

_Not everything is as it seems._

_OoOoO_

**A/N: You know, I always find it funny when a person asks about how a character is doing and I think "I dunno! I wonder how they're doing as well..." even though I'm the author. Haha oh well... now I have to come up with a reason why Narumi was kidnapped! Guess I'll find out why when I start the next chapter ;D**

**Happy New year everyone! 2010 is OVER! XD**

**Review!**


	13. Life Sucks

**Uh... hi everyone. This... is not what you are going to want hear, but my dad... last night he was killed in a car crash. A drunk driver hit him head on and, well, I'm sure you can fill in the blanks. The bastard who hit him... he escaped relatively unscathed all except for a small cut on the side of his head. And I ask: why is it that the innocent people have to die? My dad didn't do anything wrong, so why did he have to be the one to end up being buried?**

**I apologize to anyone and everyone that was expecting this to be a chapter or an update but honestly? I just can't write right now and I need some time. **

**I am going to be on haitus for an undetermined amount of time. **

**Not too long - just enough to... take everything in and... Just- ... I'll be back, okay?**

**~Luna Noroi**

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**Kei Noroi**_

_** RIP**_

_** 1-26-2011**_


	14. Almost Sorry

**A/N: I'm back! Did you miss me? (if you say no I may cry T_T) Anyway, it took me a while to get back into this because taking so much time away from a story really took a hit at my muse... It's alive again though, for those who care. So, yes. Enjoy~**

**Rated F: **for the F bomb because Narumi is going to use that word like... 3 times I think in the chapter. He's in a bad mood, give him a break :)

**Summary:** "I hate everything about you." Five words. "I... I hate you too, Natsume." And so the first domino in a long line fell… "Good." For better or for worse only time would tell… He never did see the tears streaming down her face as he walked away.

OoOoO

**Chapter 13: Almost Sorry**

Narumi wasn't sure how long he had been here in this room, chained to a chair with the links wrapping around his chest, ankles, and most importantly, his wrists where the metal warmed by his own body heat was cutting into the delicate flesh there, already marred by rope burns. Blood oozed around the places where the chains had cut into his skin, dried over in some places, fresh in others. His hands were sticky with the substance and his aching fingers twitched. His head still throbbed and he was willing to bet that blow to the head he'd received from one of the AAO's brutes had given him a mild concussion. He _still_ was having problems keeping his thoughts straight and it wasn't because of the drugs anymore. Those were gone from his system.

After the initial interrogation led by Yuka herself, the lights had been dimmed down from their previously painful heights to an almost-darkness where he could see but the bare minimum, the AAO apparently not wanting to waste any more electricity than they had to on their prisoner. Narumi was okay with that though. There wasn't much to look at in the first place.

The heavy metal door to Narumi's cell slid open, the metal creaking loudly, and in walked two people who Narumi had come to loath seeing. A harsh amount of light spilled in from the outside, causing the blond to squeeze his eyes shut in pain, keeping them closed until the tell-tail screech of metal told him that the door was closed and the room had been returned to it's semi-darkness once more.

"Come by to check on me?" he drawled in question, finally peeling his eyes open. "How sweet! I'm touched, really."

The sarcasm in his voice was thick and sneered. Yuka's eyebrow twitched in irritation, but did Narumi care? Hmm... no. No he did not.

"I see you're doing well she inquired in a detached voice.

He snorted.

"Oh, _yes. _I'm just chained to a chair in a room with no aesthetic value whatsoever in who-knows-where that looks just like your typical interrogation room from those bad yakuza movies. I've got fucking _metal __tearing apart the skin on my wrists_, have been drugged, am captive to an enemy organization and... did I mention that I probably-most-likely have a concussion because on of your stupid apes thought that it would be a good idea to hit me in the head with a fucking _rock?_ Yes. I'm _fantastic_!"

Yuka blinked and stared at him for a moment, taking in the dried and caked blood covering the top of his head and most of the side of his face and then his hands and wrists, all red and brown with blood stemming from where the tight bindings met skin.

"I will have a doctor check on you, then," she said finally.

The teacher didn't deign her with a response.

Ringo finally spoke up from her place behind her mentor.

"Are you ready to give us the information we need?" she asked in her high, cold voice.

"Uh... no. Not really."

Jade eyes hardened.

"Do you really want to go through this again? Tell us what we need and we will release you."

Narumi smirked at her, bringing back more of his old, arrogant attitude from back when he was a student.

"How about no, shorty?"

Ringo frowned in annoyance and Yuka put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't argue with him," she murmured.

"Yes, Yuka-san." She obeyed immediately.

The captive Alice smiled then, seeing an opening to antagonize the youngest person in the room. Because if he was going to be a prisoner in this place... hell if he wasn't going to at least cause some emotional damage to the people keeping him here.

"Hmm... I can see why Ringo-chan was so ready to replace you with Mikan-chan as her big sister. No personality. No mind of your own... _'Yes, Yuka-san!'_" he mocked. "You really _are_ a waste of a human being..."

Kaori grit her teeth in anger and clenched her fists, but did nothing more than glare the hell out of Narumi. Yuka's hand on her shoulder tightened.

_'Okay then, let's rile her up a little more,'_ he thought with a smirk.

"You should see her. Really. Prancing around Mikan, calling her _Onee-sama_, walking with her to and from classes... they eat lunch together, and- oh, yes I almost forgot. She's growing her hair out now to match her big sister Mikan's!" he ended with a laugh, simply delighted by the look of rage and pain on his past students face - like she had been stabbed in the heart and he's just twisted the knife - and the one of anger on Yuka's.

He twisted the knife a little more.

"I have to wonder if she even thinks about her _dead big sister_ anymore... After all I haven't even see her cry once since she met Mikan. She loves her. They're always together when they can be now. She's replaced you quite thoroughly so-"

He was cut of my the swift impact of a fist thrown by none other than the seething girl before him, breathing hard and trying visibly to calm herself down.

"Just shut up!" she shrieked at him.

Hissing at the pain in his cheek and jaw before pushing it to the back of his mind, Narumi tilted his head to the side and looked through his hair towards her and her still outstretched fist. Hot tears were running down her cheeks now and Narumi almost felt sorry for her.

Key word being: _almost_.

Instead he just just gave her a bloody grin, eying the the red smear on her fist that was his very own blood with amusement.

What did it matter if he spilled a little more?

"Shall I go on...?" he asked cruelly.

There was no reply except for harsh breathing and furious eyes and more tears. Yuka watched from a distance, detached from the whole scene. But Narumi could see that she was a hairsbreadth away from intervening.

"Heh." He sneered at her. "How about I tell you about the time when Ringo-"

"Shut up!" Kaori screamed. "Shut up, shut up,_ shut. Up_!"

A blood smeared fist raised itself to strike again and Narumi stared it down calmly and waited for impact, only for it to be caught at the wrist by a stronger Yuka Azumi. The brunet lowered the blondes arm and gave it a hard squeeze before releasing it.

"Leave," Yuka said softly.

The command was simple and the tone left no option for argument.

"Leave," Yuka continued, "and rest. I'll call for you later."

Reluctantly, Kaori nodded and looked away.

Wiping her cheeks of tears, she gave an obedient, "Yes, ma'am."

Her foot steps clacked loudly on the cold cement floor and Narumi watched her exit with a smirk. The steel door slammed shut behind his old students' lithe form and the blond clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"Such a violent girl," he said with a loud sigh. "She never did behave like that back at the Academy. Oh how the great have fallen... Even if they never really were great to begin with. But whatever."

His words were met with a deadpan look from the Alice thief, but he just continued on.

"Is that the best you have, by the way? A pissed off, hormonal, emo-in-training little child? Because if it is, then that's just _sad,_" Narumi informed Yuka cheekily, turning his head to face her. "Hey, what's with that look, _sempai_?" - Yuka didn't miss the malicious tone he sneered his old title for her with- "Why, I'd say you were mad at me or something outrageous like that. What? Are you grumpy because I didn't greet you with a hug and tears of joy? Unchain me and maybe we can see about doing something to rectify that horrible mistake on my behalf."

"That was cruel, Naru," she told him honestly. "You don't know how much it hurt her to leave and let Ringo think she was dead. What you said... hurt more than any sort of physical wound you could have given her."

"And yet," Narumi countered icily, "she still left her. And why does it matter if it hurt her? After all of the damage that you've inflicted upon _me_ - and it's not all just emotional you know - I think it's only fair."

Yuka bit her lip and her eyes lit with fury.

"Then take it out on me and not a child!"

He chuckled.

His heart hurt to much right now to feel any remorse.

"Ah, but Sempai, you see... this is just all the better. By hurting those that you actually _do_ care about I can hurt you as well. But if you really do want me to attack you specifically, I have a whole lot of material that I can use. For example, did you know that Mikan-chan hates you? You and Sensei both. Because you left her all alone in this world."

It was a blatant lie, but Narumi didn't care. He was going for hurts, and - ah. There is was: a flash of pain in those pretty eyes of hers.

Good.

He continued.

"Did you know that she calls me 'Otou-san'? That she wishes _I_ could be her father because she knows that, unlike her biological parents-" Yuka couldn't help but give a full body flinch at the way he had addressed her and Yukihara - as nothing more than the people who created Mikan. She was harshly reminded then that Mikan didn't know anything about her parents and would never consider her a mother nor Sensei a father, "-_I would never abandon her_."

"I didn't have a choice," she said in defense, clenching her fists and looking down.

"You say that, but you and I both know that's a lie," Narumi snarled and leaned forwards against his bonds. "You had options!"

"_Like what! _Huh, Narumi? Tell me what choices I could have made, because even after all theses years,_ I still don't see what else I could have done!"_

"You _could_ have trusted your friends to help you and Mikan out!"

Violet burned into emerald. All of Narumi's fire left him then and this time he addressed her in a whisper.

"You could have trusted _me_ Yuka. I would have helped you out and you know it." His voice was pained and Yuka had to look away. "But you didn't trust me. You never did."

And the accused couldn't say anything because he was right. She _hadn't_ trusted him. Not enough.

"I have to go now," she said finally, her voice strong and sure despite the turmoil she was experiencing inside. "Shiki and some of my men will be here shortly to move you to your permanent cell and they will feed you then as well."

She turned on her heel and walked to the door that Kaori had stormed out of just minutes earlier. Hesitating sightly, she turned to look back at the shackled figure behind her.

"... goodbye, Narumi."

She opened the door and shut it behind her quickly. Violet eyes stared at the door that Yuka had just gone through.

Narumi Anjou hung his head; miserable and unable to do anything about the tears flowing unwillingly down his cheeks.

"Goodbye Yuka."

OoOoO

OoOoO

Back at Gakuen Alice, things were in chaos.

A teacher had been kidnapped.

A _teacher_ had been kidnapped.

A _teacher _had been_ kidnapped._

Narumi-sensei...

If that wasn't enough to make over a thousand students and teachers go nuts, Mikan didn't know what would. Weren't the teachers supposed to be the ones who helped, lead, and protected them after all? Teachers didn't just get- get _snatched up_ by the AAO so easily.

_'They shouldn't have been able to capture him so easily!'_

Mikan buried her face into her pillow and screamed in frustration. Ever since the whole incident occurred three days ago, things had gotten extremely intense. Guards had arrived by the bus to be stationed around the famous teaching institution and Natsume and the other agents of the DA were working non-stop right now to try and figure out just how they had gotten in.

Her lessons with Persona were currently postponed as well.

All that was left now was to go to class and talk to her friends. But even then the conversation was strained with worry and their words drifted back to the current matter at hand.

And now she was just sitting in her room, trying not to go stir crazy.

It was driving Mikan _mad_.

She needed to do something to help! Just sitting here was driving her insane...

Mikan blinked suddenly, remembering something that she had heard about a while back. Something from when she was ten years old and the AAO had gotten in, though they had been quickly stopped by the DA before anything could happpen.

_["You're wondering how they got in? Well... they say that there's a wormhole somewhere in the Academy - that it leads to the outside world. If that's true, I'd bet that they used it to get inside."_

_"Really?" Mikan had asked, hazel eyes wide with wonder._

_A nod._

_"Well... where is it?"_

_"I don't know. Rumor is that it's somewhere in the high school division... But I wouldn't think too hard on it, chibi-chan. It's just a rumor."_

_Tono mussed her hair with a grin and Mikan quickly dismissed the rumor from her mind.]_

Her eyes widened, just like before. A growing idea lit their depths.

"The wormhole..." she whispered, a smile growing on her face. "That's it!"

Mikan rolled off her bed and ran out of her dorm.

**A/N: Psh. We all know what Mikan's going to try and do next *laughs* but this time it's for totally different reasons. ^^**

**Uh. I apologize because this chapter very likely sucked. I promise that the next one will be better.**

**Please review!**


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